On Mon, Apr 7, 2025 at 10:19 AM, Ted Forte wrote:
"I greatly enjoy viewing the objects that were discovered visually, through the eyepiece of some intrepid astronomer of bygone centuries."
I absolutely agree.? I like to think about Messier and others sitting out in the cold under the stars looking for comets and wondering what those little fuzzies were.
In a similar vein, what sailors in the "Olden Days" were able to accomplish in their small boats astound me.
The that John Smith made of Virginia still amazes me - when I had my boat I tried to recreate his travels as much as I could.
I saw the recreation of the he used when making his map in rough water crossing the opening of the Monitor Merrimac Bridge and later had a close look at it at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum.? I visited the island where he was "supposedly" captured by the Powhatan Indians.? Of course all of this interest was aroused by the celebration of Jamestown's 400th anniversary.
... oops, side tracked ...
Anyway, I enjoy looking things in the sky and thinking of how long they've been looked at by the Greeks, Egyptians and seventeenth century astronomers.?
Pictures are nice but they don't give me the same thrill.
?
It's a great hobby.
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Jonathan Scheetz