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A Planet Called Saturn
A Planet Called Saturn

When an apple fell from a tree, it helped Sir Isaac Newton discover gravity. However, when an apple struck me, I discovered that the brightest object in the night sky was not a star but a planet called Saturn. The apple that stuck me, not a fruit but the newest technological wonder, was the Apple iPad 2. With my new toy, Astronomy has become more than a passing interest when the discovery of an App called Star Walk helped me identify the mysterious luminous object.

My imagination blossomed wondering if Saturn actually had rings similar to an angel's halo, and if I could see them with a naked eye or an inexpensive telescope, or even if I could reach towards the sky and touch it. Enthusiastically, I pecked on my neighbor's door telling him of my new discovery as he wearily eyed deciphered my discovery as unimportant. Then, he shut his door, went back inside and left me to the amazement of the heavens. I pondered instead of walking back to my house ready to embark on a new journey, the purchase of my first telescope. I searched and read many articles before deciding on a smaller less expensive telescope instead of the one that a bright-eyed newbie with hopes of wondrous and miraculous discoveries sought to purchase. Later nights would have be re-identifying Saturn and discovering new stars, Sirius and Libra, and constellations, Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, birds and animal arrangements along with armed warriors standing guard in the sky.

A few nights later after the discovery of such wondrous characters dancing and playing in my nighttime sky, I turned the corner in my neighborhood while on a nightly walk contemplating if a tower with blinking lights was actually, as it appeared to be or possibly a cluster of stars. I finally decided that it must be the Orion Nebula as I distinctly identified three stars. Later verification with Star Walk would prove my excavation of the sky as correct. The sky had became an arena that swelled my imagination sending me on trips to my own personal star in the Orion Nebula and other stars where I would climb the mountains of unknown worlds, meet the strange new people who inhabited them, and sample their cuisines. As of yet, I haven't received my first telescope, but the excitement of its arrival has me venturing to my local Astronomy club with curiosity to find out what this exclusive club whose members are called astronomers have in store for an amateur observer, who already wishes to construct and design a telescope. My beating heart may someday subside into my chest finding the discovery of new lights above my head as journey already traveled, but the surreal visions of an adolescent astronomer will color my memories forever and I will never forget that Saturn was the first celestial object that I identified other than the moon and sun.

Details
Date Taken: 07/28/2011
Author: John S.
Category: Show & TELescope Contest (2011)

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