“Would Sir care to sample the wine?”
I HAVE A TELESCOPE!!
Well, that’s not strictly true. No.1 Son has a telescope. I took him to a toy superstore to buy him Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars, but realising that having that thing sat on the shelf would be tantamount to having an effigy of the mother-in-law sat there, we took the mutual decision to get something else. Sorry Jabba. Try Botox.
The great thing is that No.1 Son was actually interested in having his own. I will probably find him light sabre-ing his siblings with it, but until then he is a step ahead of me.
And it’s not bad. Boasting a 50mm Objective lens and aluminium tube, with 2 eyepieces and a diagonal, with a table top tripod & alt-azi mount. It allows for two magnifications, 18X and 90X. Of course, you are thinking I am now several hundred pounds lighter, but in fact this beauty set me back just £14.99.
We are now waiting for a clear sky, hopefully later tonight or tomorrow, but for now at least I can see the pattern on the wallpaper in the house 100 yards away. The manual promises craters, Jupiter’s moons, and maybe a glimpse of Saturn’s rings, whilst I am hoping he can get a better view of that great nebula in Andromeda. He was pretty excited about seeing it through bino’s, and I am pretty excited about sharing a new hobby with him.
So the big question is, will a cheap telescope have enough impact to act as a springboard to greater things, or will it frustrate and put us off? Will the sip of wine we take with our first taste convince us to take the whole bottle? Or will this ‘scope only be brought out for ceremonious occasions, such as when the neighbours re-decorate?
COME ON SKY! CLEAR! ….. we wait with bated garlic breath.
