Introductions: How did you become interested in astronomy?

[owlice]

Apollo 17 stayed on the Lunar Surface for 2 weeks

I'm sorry, but no; it was three days:

Landing occurred at 7:54:57 p.m. Dec. 11.
The LM ascent stage lifted off the moon at 10:54:37 p.m. Dec. 14.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apoll ... llo17.html

[neufer]

Sirs.

Thank you for this box. I am over 70 years old and the question is offensive. Everyone is interested in astronomy to some degree or another. You start learning when young with the sun and moon. Then the Plough and North star, and Orion can not be missed from October onwards. I have lived in cities all my life, but in the countryside there is a mass of stars.

What on earth Starship Asterisk is about is beyond me. All is necessary is a simple comments box for "ooh and aahs and comments ". For us simple folk. The universe belongs to everyone. Hubble has opened it up. It is not secret. Else what is it doing on the internet. Unless you are keeping it from us peasants. We certainly don't get overexposed to it on the Eastern side of the Atlantic.

Enough. Must get some kip and food. DTR.

• Have a good kip.

[galaxy45]

because I'm not an ignorant

[geckzilla]

because I'm not an ignorant

There is a directly proportional relationship between ignorance and the degree of certainty one believes oneself to not be ingorant.

[PsyberCelt]

Greetings everyone. I grew up under a dark sky in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The astronomy bug bit me in grade school so I read about our universe, saved up for my first telescope, and taught myself to "star hop". Since then, I have moved to Colorado, gotten married (kids and grandkids now), learned about CCD photography, shared my hobby and all that cool geeky stuff.

The journey continues
-Rick

[Railbird_Jim]

How about the Ice Pack Nebula since it resembles pretty closely the ice pack I have on my back at the moment.

[Beyond]

How about the Ice Pack Nebula since it resembles pretty closely the ice pack I have on my back at the moment.

You seem to have overshot the APOD thread by a little.

[Rhonda from Ontario]

I think the name for it should be pillow

[choochoo]

Astronomy & Sky & Telescope magazines, when I saw Saturn thru a used pawn-shop Tasco 50mm refractor it nearly took my breath away!

[sharkbaitdowndory]

I grew up loving the stars. I would sit out on our back porch for hours, watching the night sky. I am now in my 40's and my parent's back porch is still known as "my office", to my family. I love it, and always will.

[J 2]

fluffy cotton candy

[catmom]

I became interested in astronomy when the space program began. Viewing the earth from space was amazing. As time went on, seeing the pictures from Hubble was awe inspiring.

[jimbo6821]

I was put on astronomy picture of the day by an associate and became hooked. It's been very interesting and educational.

When I first saw it, I thought styrofoam.

[Curbrunner]

As a kid when we lived in the South Pacific I was fascinated by the night time skies.

[Littlepike]

My name is Ronald D. Parker and I am 64 years old. I have a small telescope and have enjoyed years of looking into the heavens!
Space has always had my attention. We used to lay out at night and watch the stars when I was a small boy, back when "light pollution" was not a problem. NASA has been a highlight of my life. The money spent has been for man's improvement! I have enjoyed the picture of the day for a good long time. I really enjoy the beautiful pictures that are contributed there.

[passing through]

Hi
Thankyou for this site. Ever since I discovered it, I look at it daily! I´m 37, I live in Portugal and I´ve always wanted to look upwards to the stars. Strangely, even before I´d ever seen images of galaxies etc, I had many dreams where I flew through space looking at these wonders!

Thanks again
Claire

[DWGarland]

Hello I have had a very avid interest in astronomy and space for many years (close to 68 years or more) now and at
age 78 I still have a very strong interest in outer space and astronomy. My Winter home is in Sierra Vista Arizona where
We have an excellent view of the sky at night and not too far from near by Astronomical Observatories both private and
government funded. I thoroughly enjoy all magazines and other literature that I can get hold of. As you know the skies
Are generally clear most of the time providing me with an excellent view. This area of my I-pad-4 is new to me and I look
forward to making as much use of this area as possible. Thank You. David W. Garland. David.garland9962@gmail. com

[tadekkoks]

Hello,
I am interested in astronomy for about 10 years, "infected me" with it my friend, she loves astronomy, she is subscribing to specialist magazines, she has a telescope and I simply absorbed interests from her. She is making available mon computational of her computer for needs of the NASA etc.
My first task was to learn to recognize constellations in the sky in every season

[oldfossil]

Hello from the high desert of NW Arizona. I don't remember how old I was when I discovered the sparkling lights in the sky, (I think I was about three) but it has been a life long love affair with astronomy. I remember my first telescope, looking at the moon, the Majesty of Jupiter and her moons, the rings of Saturn are still captivating. The Pleiades looking like a jewel in the sky, Orion hunting the winter skies with his dog Sirius. My parents telling me to come in and go to bed for the tenth time, as I had school tomorrow. Now that I am much older, and many telescopes (bigger, I must have a bigger telescope) later. I still feel the same thrill of looking up at the wonder of it all.

[konradpow]

To be honest - I don't remember, when and why I started being interested in astronomy... I think that I have always been interested in it, since when I remember. At first - interested me, what I can see at night above my head, I got to know constellations, I read about them, then I acquainted with the mythology... Then I became interested in it, of what I can't see with the naked eye - that is with deep outer space. Later came an interest in physics with reference to astronomy, so I can say I am interested in everything what is associated with astronomy.

[CURRAHEE CHRIS]

Hello.

I look forward to expanding my knowledge of astronomy via this forum. I have always had a passing interest, but never really the money to buy a scope or could work out my schedule where I could consistently observe at a planetarium or astrological society. I took my family to Flagstaff Arizona last summer in anticipation of my wife and I turning 40. We went to meteor crater (which was very entertaining) and then visited the Lowell Observatory. They have some astronomers sitting by with scopes fixed on planets. I got to talking with one gentleman there while my kids were looking at Saturn through his scope, and I told him I just felt like this hobby was above my IQ!! He laughed and said nonsense and I've been in his debt every since. I've decided to get my first telescope this fall and will start turning my eyes towards the heavens. In the meantime, I am trying to immerse myself into as much of the hobby jargon as I can and the APOD site has been a great help in helping me take my babysteps in the hobby.

Warmest regards to all
Chris

[SpacebInfra]

Sydney Observatory

Paid the money, built a 8" Newtonian on a Dobson mount.
Ground the lenses, commercial aluminium vapour deposit..
Also built a 3 -32 Mhz receiver and a program to predict IO/A IO/B and IO/C.
To listen into Shoemaker/Levy.
This written in VB ported to C and Delphi.

[InfraBspace]

Correction Ground the reflector
Am attempting a Cassegrain.
A Newtonian has some aberrations supporting the
secondary reflector.

[kolinka]

I started being interested in astronomy during the reading books of the Polish s-f writer, Stanislaw Lem, how I think. He described different constellations, he put the share of his books on planets of these constellations, he wrote also about different astronomical occurrences in the outer space - so I as a child still started being interesting, where these constellations are or whether these occurrences are happening really in the outer space.
Then my curiosity about the outer space deepened along with my age, I read different scientific publications (written in language intelligible to me), I felt large fascination and the respect for form's sake of the outer space and occurrences happening in it.

[Sir Thomas]

I think I have always been attracted to Astronomy, but mostly about Astrophysics as, I do like physics and maths. I started a BSc in this area, but I decided to change my way by doing something a little bit more social, but secretly I keep myself updated and I read a lot about it.

Greetings from France and from my little room in the backcountry of England.