Sunday 14 October 2012

stars

When my Dad was born, Britain was still staggering to its feet after the First World War. This weekend, we had his big family birthday do. You know what it's like when you don't know what to buy for someone? Usually I'm like that about Dad, but this year inspiration struck, and we all chipped in to get him a telescope.

Now, there's a very happy man. Seeing him unwrapping it yesterday I just wish I'd thought of it years ago. Never mind - apparently it's never too late to start star-gazing and the prospect of seeing the stars so clearly delights him.

The stars have inspired dreams and imagination for thousands of years. They are part of our mythology, and the more we learn about them the more we understand the world we live in. They show us how vast the universe is, and how tiny we are. And the stars that shone on my Grandma and her baby are still shining on him now, and on me, and on you.

So tonight, or the next clear night, just go outside and look.

2 comments:

sciencefreak12 said...

Tell your dad that i wish him a happy b day. Ooh, stars, pretty!

Space is amazing, and yes, when you think about it, it does make you fell small. Just think, their are so meany galices and celestial bodys out there. And we are only in one.

"We-we are a meak speck in the world, the universe." --Sam

P.S. I have a telascop at home for stargazing. I remembered looking at the moon and I've seen Jupiter's moon and rings ( at an observatory,,I was at school for the blind for a summer camp that was about space.)

margaret mcallister said...

Amazing, isn't it - the sense the vastness of space. How wonderful to go stargazing! I hope I can have a look through Dad's telescope when he gets it sorted.