Wow! A boy sees Saturn for the first time

I enjoy doing public star viewings. Showing the things in the sky to those who perhaps have never seen them before. Such was the case recently when I was invited to do an astronomy session for a group of Cub Scouts out at one of the local lakes.

There were to be about 20 scouts who would be spending the weekend at the lake for an overnight camping experience. Upon arrival I discovered there were not only 20 active, bouncy, excited Cub Scouts, but their parents and siblings were there as well. Good thing I had brought two telescopes.

I couldn't have asked for a better evening for viewing. It had been a wonderful, albeit warm summer day, with a glorious sunset.

The seeing overhead was spectacular, all seven stars in the Little Dipper were visible and Saturn was hanging just below an almost first quarter moon.

After setting up the scopes to let them adjust to the temperature (someone asked me what kind of cannon that was) I arranged to have the boys and their families come up in groups of five for the viewing. I operated the eight-inch Dobsonian, (the cannon) which would showcase Saturn, and my wife, Janice, ran the 80 mm refractor which would show the moon.

You have to understand something about 10-year old boys. The first thing is they have a hard time being still and secondly -- well they have a hard time staying still.

The first group eagerly approached my scope asking what they would be looking at. When I told them the planet Saturn they were even more excited. As the first boy stepped up I had to remind him not to touch the scope so it wouldn't move and to take off his hat for a better view.

Here comes the part I really like. A bouncing, excited, 10-year old who can't wait for his first look at something he has never seen before nervously zooms in for a look. Suddenly the bounce is gone, he stands quietly looking into the eyepiece for several seconds. Then he looks again and utters one word, the one I had been waiting for. "Wow"

It wasn't a loud word, it was quiet, almost awestruck. He was seeing the rings around the planet with the bright dot of Saturn's largest moon, Titan, also in the field of view. Then he said it again, "Wow."

I could hear the same word coming from where Janice was showing a close-up view of the craters and mountains of the moon. "Wow" I wondered if that is how Galileo felt when he turned his small telescope to the sky for the first time.

It made my evening. I remembered that I had experienced that same feeling myself that same evening when I put Saturn in the field of view for the boys to see. Although I have seen Saturn many, many times. I thought back to the first time I saw it as a 27-year old and remembered what I had said. "Wow."

SKY WATCH: Jupiter and Neptune are still together in the sky. They are rising earlier now and will be in the southeast at about midnight. A just-past full moon will be to the right of bright Jupiter. Almost directly above the king of the planets dim Neptune will be showing less than a degree away (about twice the width of your little finger held at arms length). Again, don't confuse the star, Mu Capricorni, for the planet. The star will be almost equi-distant between the two. On Sunday the 12th, the moon will show the way to another of the outer planets. This time very dim Uranus. It will be to the lower right of the moon. Venus and Mars are in the very early morning sky. Look in the southeast at about 4 a.m. MDT. The pair are about five degrees apart with Venus pulling away from her reddish brother planet each day.

NEXT TIME: More astronomical blathering.