Cosmos

An obsession is born

Tasco Telescope

The thing that started my lifelong love of astronomy was, unbelievably, a cheap Tasco telescope that I got off the clearance rack for Kaybee Toys (that's a real throwback). I think it cost $20 and it was supposed to be purple. It was pink. I took it home and set it up in my driveway that night. Using the newspaper (that's right, kids) I located Saturn in the sky and pointed the telescope at it. I was amazed that I could see it, rings and all, through that little telescope. About five minutes later the tripod collapsed and the scope broke, never to be looked through again.

The first upgrade

But that was enough to get me started. Even without a telescope for many years afterward, I looked up at the night sky. I photographed space shuttle launches. I kept the interest going until I was finally able to afford a much more quality scope, the Meade ETX-90. With that scope I got my first look at the Orion Nebula, the Andromeda Galaxy, and the Hercules Star Cluster, to name a few.

Finding a mentor

Roger Curry

I also took a continuing education class that year at Jacksonville University, taught be an older gentleman, Roger Curry. Roger turned out to be the single most important person in my continued love of the night sky. He was kind, helpful, and extremely smart. He introduced me to NEFAS, the Northeast Florida Astronomical society, where I learned about other types of telescopes, did a lot of public outreach, and eventually served as club president for a couple of years.