The
year was 1989. The idea for "The Starman Chronicles" was
hatched. Early that summer I had finally upgraded from a tin
constructed, four inch reflecting telescope, to the often bragged on,
"Big Red", a 13.1 inch Dobsonian mounted light bucket. The four
inch had served me well for nearly ten years. It had accompanied
me on some of my most memorable stargazing adventures to date. It
was with this instrument that I first found and saw the amazing Orion
Nebula for myself. Though already hooked, that cemented it for me.
I'd set up out in the only nearby place I could get to in those days,
where I could access a fairly wide open expanse of sky a
cemetery. On the outskirts of the city, even though it was rife
with light pollution, it was the only big open space near home that
provided access to the entire celestial tapestry. But there it
was, M 42, big and glowing, filling the eyepiece with sheer grandeur.
It was cold. The ground was covered in a half foot of snow.
But there I was, me and the little white telescope, in the middle of
one of the cemetery avenues behind the tailgate of my 12 year old
SUV. Metaphorically, I was in heaven. Practically, however,
I was at the jumping off point of my ancestors! But here is where
I would travel to when I didn’t have the time or inclination to embark
on a long road trip to the country for a less light polluted piece of
sky.
It was here that I would scan the skies for hours. Not yet the
now seasoned amateur astronomer I am today, I reveled at the sights I
beheld, sometimes alone, though oftentimes with a friend or family
member I had convinced to join me out on the adventure. The stars
had always been a passion for me and, as I always admonish my readers,
sharing was and has always been a main component of the activity.
When I was a young boy, my dad had purchased a small refractor for
me. It was soon after that I saw the moon up close and in person
for the first time. Fascinated, I began my lifelong study of
Astronomy. Over those formidable years, during the time when the
occasional big news was of the Apollo Missions to the Moon, I started
reading everything and anything I could on the subject.
When finally, as a young adult, I started off on my own life.
There were several things that I had planned to accumulate for my
initial bucket list. One, of course, was a bigger
telescope. I started small, though, with that toy grade four inch
reflector and, as I mentioned earlier, it provided me much improved
access to my heavens. From there, as they say, the rest is
history.
Fast forward to the late eighties, I began writing both weekly and
monthly newspaper columns and enjoining readers to partake of the
astronomical pursuit. My original aim, still the focus today, was
to share my fascination of stargazing and promoting the seeing for
one’s self, the amazing universe at our finger tips, or in this case,
in the eyepiece.
In 1990, I became the Astronomy Instructor at America Online's Campus
Area, arguably one of the first "distance education" programs in the
world. In addition to the eventual roll out of a second Astronomy
II course, I had also begun working with my boss, head of the campus
area, as a programmer, developing and setting up new teachers and
courses within the Online Campus. By the end of the AOL Campus
Area's reign, there were nearly three hundred online courses being
presented. It wasn't yet called the Internet or the World Wide
Web in those days I guess Al Gore was just beginning to
formulate the idea!
By the middle of the decade I had met an agent through an online,
writer's group, message board (read blog today) where the Lawnchair
Astronomer was born. He had been looking for someone to write an
Astronomy text for my eventual publisher, Dell Trades. They had
embarked on the Armchair series with such titles as The Armchair
Magician, Conductor, what have you. Originally, it was to be the
“Armchair Astronomer”, but within the proposal we had developed, I had
named one of the sample chapters, Lawnchair Astronomy.
Once again, the rest was history. The book was ordered and to be
named The Lawnchair Astronomer. Of course, that heralded the end
of "The Starman Chronicles" and I re branded my column, "The Lawnchair
Astronomer". I've been writing under the moniker ever since and
the fascination is still prevalent.
Clear Skies!
The Lawnchair Astronomer
Gerry Descoteaux is the author of “The Lawnchair Astronomer,” a Dell
Trades paperback. He has been writing about astronomy for more than 25
years. He also played an integral role in the development of America
Online’s pioneering distance education program known as AOL’s Online
Campus and served as Professor of Astronomy there for 10 years. He can
be reached at TheStarMan@thelawnchairastronomer.com.
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