Backyard Telescope Fun

The weather seems to have finally cleared up in Northern California, and I spent a couple of hours outside with our telescope. The backyard of suburban Palo Alto might not be the world's best place to look at the sky, but for me it is since it involves almost no effort and I can easily share the views with my family. And the views did not disappoint! Saturn, Mars, and the Moon were are easily visible and amazing to see. A visiting cousin who had never really looked into a telescope before remarked that Saturn looked fake -- it was just too perfect with rings and moons and fuzzy bands all strutting their stuff.

I am not a serious amateur by any stretch of the imagination, but it's nice to know that there is at least one science where a dedicated amateur can make significant contributions. Here is an article about (among other things) a regular "mom from New Zealand" who has helped discover several planets around other stars using a technique called gravitational lensing. Of course, most regular moms don't have backyard observatories with a few tens of thousands of dollars of equipment, but that's splitting hairs. More power to her!