Why You Need a Telescope
I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t have a telescope. Since childhood, from a time before my earliest memories, there has been some kind of telescope in my possession.
I looked at the moon incessantly during the Apollo program in the 1960’s and 1970’s, I had many craters and mountain ranges committed to memory, and I knew EXACTLY where Mare Tranquillitatis was. I often pretended I could see the remnants of Apollo 11 through my eyepiece.
In my experience, owning a telescope has been the one constant in my life. No matter what has happened to me over the years, the tragedies, successes, disappointments, whatever, I’ve always had a telescope to take outside in my backyard and lose myself in the heavens. Probably more than any other inanimate object, my telescopes are most responsible for my mental well-being and stability (such as it is).
When thinking about this post, I was going to write lots of words expounding the reasons (all very noble and practical, mind you) of why you should run out and buy yourself a new telescope. I was going to mention how
- educational they are for your kids, how they could do great science fair projects using it
- owning one would save you money on your cable bill because you would watch less TV (see honey, it’ll pay for itself in five months)
- owning one will make you smarter - not a monkey
- you’ll be able to impress all your friends at dinner parties with your knowledge of supernovae and planets
- much more you’ll get laid because you can use the line: ‘Hey, wanna see some cool stuff through my telescope?’
- you’ll save the world by discovering an asteroid that’s heading straight for earth
- you’ll become famous by discovering a comet
Surprisingly, none of those very good reasons are why I think you MUST own your own telescope. There is a better, much more profound reason.
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Above all else, there is one reason why you need a telescope: PERSPECTIVE.
Looking at the night sky through a telescope, observing the cosmos and striving to understand our place in it, is THE most important activity you can embark on. Looking through your eyepiece, an almost inevitable realization can form in your mind that perhaps the problems, the worries, the troubles, successes, triumphs, loves and all the myriad circumstances that make up the human condition are nothing but a fleeting bloom in a limitless cosmic sepulcher.
What seem like gleamingly important issues: money problems, relationship woes, stagnating careers and a general lack of fulfillment all become tarnished and dull under the glow of the night sky - their luster diminishes. These circumstances, put under the lens of your telescope, seem as far away and negligible as the galaxies in the ultra deep field. Understanding that the universe is vast and objective under its canopy can become quite comforting, allowing our emotions to readjust to their new reference frame.
Owning a telescope opens a direct dialogue between you and the stars, offering a piece of mind and serenity that simply can’t be found anywhere else. The time you spend behind the eyepiece, observing the true nature of our universe, makes you a better person - more balanced and stable, smarter and less prone to radical ideologies that try to strip away your humanity if favor of some dogmatic belief system.
Your telescope can become your own personal temple of understanding, one that helps shape your mind by opening up vistas only people who dare to actually look up ever see. It provides a stage for you to become a critical thinker, to make up your own mind about the world around you and find your own peace.
People are afraid because they don’t understand. Life is scary only to people who don’t attempt to learn about their place in the cosmos. Owning a telescope (and actually using it), focuses light on the darkness of misunderstanding, doubt, fear and lack of knowledge that plague our lives.
Owning a telescope should be standard equipment in everyone’s life. I simply couldn’t live without one.
Image Credit: Brian Jolley
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