Clark Dome, one of the many observatory centers
Lowell Observatory Flagstaff, Arizona
Famous for: Discovering Pluto
Infamous for: Discovering Pluto (Hey, it was demoted. Talk about raining on your parade.)
Awesome for: Seeing things no one else has
Observatories elicit deep thoughts. For example, are astronomers nocturnal? Honestly. Have you ever even thought of that before? Yeah, I didn't think so. Anyway, back to date time with the hubby. First we saw this:
Jupiter. Stripes. Three moons. With my own eye. ('Eye' is singular on purpose. Only my right eye saw Jupiter. Poor left eye always gets left out. But alas, that is the nature of telescopes.) After Jupiter we walked up a hill to Clark Dome and looked through this bad boy. Built 1896, 32 feet long, 6 tons.
We saw this:
Apparently the moon was made of chocolate pudding that was whipped too long with an electric beater, thus resulting in a lot of bubbles popping. Of course, it was made back in the day before color was invented, hence it is gray not brown.
Right after we saw the moon the tree-hugging, star-gazing, hair-growing, hippie guy controlling the giganto-telescope announced very politely that if everyone would wait a bit he'd try to find "The Seventh Planet." At first people were confused about why he called it that and everyone whipped out their fingers to try to figure out which is the seventh planet. About fifteen seconds later a group of old people started chuckling and nudging each other. Oh heavens.
Did you know that you can see the first six planets with your naked eye? Even Saturn! They just look like stars, of course, but you can see them. The outer planets, however, can only be seen through huge telescopes. So hardly anyone in the world has seen Uranus. Well, except me. I've seen it. It looks like this:
Right after we saw the moon the tree-hugging, star-gazing, hair-growing, hippie guy controlling the giganto-telescope announced very politely that if everyone would wait a bit he'd try to find "The Seventh Planet." At first people were confused about why he called it that and everyone whipped out their fingers to try to figure out which is the seventh planet. About fifteen seconds later a group of old people started chuckling and nudging each other. Oh heavens.
Did you know that you can see the first six planets with your naked eye? Even Saturn! They just look like stars, of course, but you can see them. The outer planets, however, can only be seen through huge telescopes. So hardly anyone in the world has seen Uranus. Well, except me. I've seen it. It looks like this:
So cool. Do you see what I see? No. You do not. Neener neener. ;)
Anyway, so on the way home I discussed with Sam the problems with the name Uranus. (I use the term 'discussed' liberally. It means I talk, he listens. And every once in a while, if I work really hard, I might elicit a grunt.) Why on earth did they name it that?! I decided that from then on I will pronounce it Yur-uh-nus. You know, to avoid the obvious problem with the word.
So we got home to Sam's house, and I announced proudly, "We saw Yur-uh-nus!" To which my sis-in-law replied, "You saw urine what?"
Nevermind. Mr. HippieMan was right. I think I'll just call it The Seventh Planet.
11 comments:
Wow, seriously that is AMAZING to get to see those up close. I agree, Uranus is a terrible name. The astronomer who named it must have had quite the sense of humor.
So...how did you get pictures of what you saw in a telescope on your blog?
Um, I didn't know what the seventh planet was...so I'm glad you elaborated. Hey, I have a hard enough time keeping track of the geography here on Earth! Anyway, about the chocolate pudding being gray...I once asked my mom if she was around when color was invented. (I guess I just assumed that if TV wasn't in color, then nothing was...you know, like the Wizard of Oz) I don't think she'll ever let me live that one down.
Those are cool shots! Really does make you think!
Krishele - I guess I should have explained. I didn't take the pictures. I just looked up the observatories' website and blog and found pictures that astronomers have taken of the same thing. So they are exactly what I saw (same size and such), but I didn't take them. :)
Okay, your commentary was totally entertaining on that one. :) Next time you come we'll show you Barry's telescope. It's pretty huge.
Those pictures are awesome. Oh and about the world being gray...I guess that's a pretty common assumption. I remember asking my dad if the world was in black and white when he was born because all the pictures back then were black and white. He assured me he was born in color. :)
Cara - I forgot about Barry's telescope! So can he find his star? I'd like to see it! :)
Mommy, don't worry. Daddy means to comment. He's really sorry he hasn't yet. It's coming.
Yeah, mommy. Daddy will comment soon. He doesn't mean to be forgetful.
Seara, Elijah, I'm finally here!
The Seventh Planet needs a new name. What could we call it? How about another "U" name? "Ursula?" Nah, she's evil. Maybe just "U" would work. Like "Planet X" only a little bit further up in the alphabet.
Grunt.
hahahaha!! That was funny to read. I got to see Saturn and its rings in a backyard telescope. It looked white and very flat, but still pretty darn cool. Some day I'd like to see The Seventh Planet. And I've heard Pluto is still a planet in New Mexico. Which is the only reason why I want to visit.
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