By Tavi Greiner
Someone once said “those who walk alone are likely to find themselves in places no one has ever been before.” While this expression likely embraces a path for new discoveries, the words perfectly reflect my relationship with the night sky.
Although I frequently engage in various outreach to encourage others to “look up”, I do most of my own observing solo. Even in the midst of an otherwise-engaged crowd, I can be completely alone, admiring the night sky and its countless faraway worlds. Whether day or night, working or relaxing, with my eyes or with my mind, I am rarely completely disengaged from the immense beauty of the cosmos and the intriguing wonders of the Universe.
Anyone who knows me well knows that I usually have one foot in this world and the other foot in Space. When diners are inside waiting for their food orders, I am outside waving at a craft full of astronauts passing overhead. When neighbors are rehashing their frustration over local roadwork, I am revisiting the behemoth gas pillars of the Eagle Nebula. While friends argue the silly antics of politicians, my mind wanders off to the bizarre scenario of TZOs. And just as everyone else has settled onto the couch for his or her favorite sitcoms, I head outside for a jaunt through the glittering Pleaides star cluster.
Despite the stares and sighs that often accompany my astronomy habits, I relish my lone journeys to the places that no one has ever actually been. I disconnect from the finiteness of the world we live in to explore the infinite allure and immense diversity of the Universe that surrounds us. Though I haven't made any new discoveries for the science community, I have encountered many new worlds for myself. And I embrace these excursions, my moments with deep Space and the night sky, just as I do my ‘real-world’ time with my friends and family.
Tomorrow, on my drive to work, I will see other drivers racing through the yields and stops, but I will pause to greet the dimming lights of distant worlds twinkling against the colors of dawn. I will hug the Crescent Moon, smile at sultry Venus, or bid ‘adieu’ to setting Jupiter. And though some of those hurried drivers will grumble or roll their eyes, I will merely smile and embrace ever tighter the seduction of the night sky.
Tavi Greiner is a co-founder of Astronomy.FM; a former projects director and radio host at SLOOH.com; and an outreach and administration assistant for The PACA Project.
