Using niche that I love-Hobby?

byDoug-A

249 followers

9 years ago

While thinking about what niche I wanted to use, I thought about my hobby of Amateur Astronomy. Since I was in Junior High I have had this hobby. I remember looking up into sky like Galileo with my binoculars and seeing the craters on the moon. I could not believe I could see so much detail. All those craters and the long shadows through them were amazing. Little later I met neighbor boy down the street who had a small telescope. I looked through his telescope and saw the planet Saturn. Now I could see for the first time in real time the rings going around this large planet, whose light was more than 1 hour away. I think he had built his telescope and I wanted to do the same. I was so excited. I started reading books about it and joined the Los Angeles Astronomical Society and started grinding my first 6 inch mirror in the basement of the observatory. Short time later I had my own 6" reflecting telescope and started looking at many other planets and details more of the moon. Went up into mountains and saw more details of galaxies, nebula, comets, star clusters, etc.

Later after being in the Navy for 4 years and then a sixth grade school teacher, I began teaching Astronomy as well as other sciences and subjects. I remember about once or twice a year we would go outside the classroom of the school at night around first quarter moon, and observe the moon through my telescope and sometimes through simple telescope my students may have brought of there own. Some were made in the classroom. Many of the students really enjoyed looking at the moon this way for first time. Some were so excited as I was when I first saw through a telescope when I was their age. Many times we also saw the Galilean moons. The same that Galileo saw January 1610. Also looked at Saturn as I did ealier. It is still exciting to look at them even now, after being retired for almost 15 years, after sharing this with boys and girls for 35 years as a school teacher. I still go on outreaches through our Astronomy Club here in Orange County, California.

Now I am thinking that it might be a great idea to share science again with kids and their parents through WA. I am now planning to offer them wonderful books and experiments that they can enjoy together, no matter which science or sciences they enjoy the most. I can now be helpful to many more parents and their young ones, than I could as a school teacher or Astronomy Club member through Outreaches.

What hobby do you have that you could share with others?