Of course we didnt venture too far out this long weekend since our funds were getting low..but i was contented with just being with you! We did the usual of eating and shopping around in Boise, but on Saturday it was a bit more exciting -- we visited the Star Observatory at Bruneau Dunes State Park! It was my first time at a Star Observatory and it was truly an amazing first time. Not just the experience itself, but the long drive into the Park was breathtaking. I really liked the little farm houses we saw on the way in, and also the natural state of the environment without a single touch of human intervention. The Park was, of course, evidence of human intervention, but it was nothing more than the bare minimal needed for people to get acquainted with astronomy.
The observatory was pitch dark (for obvious reasons) and my eyes were straining to grasp just the outline of structures and humans. it was difficult to adapt to at first because i've never been put in a similar situation before, but once i got used to the dark i was really excited to watch the gazillion starts and the numerous constellations. i've gazed at stars before, but this experience was unique because i never knew the night sky could be so littered with stars, big and small. the environment was so levelled it was really easy to spot even the smallest of stars, and it makes me feel like i'm covered by a huge blanket of stars! We got to observe through a gigantic telescope that was about 3x my height and saw Saturn! Such an incredible feeling because i never imagined i could see a planet so clearly right before my eyes despite it being so so so far away. i've seen how beautiful Saturn is in encyclopedias, but this simple-looking Saturn trumps every other picture of Saturn i've seen hands-down. All because i know it is the REAL thing. i even saw a few of Saturn's moons!!
We also saw 2 other constellations called "ET' and "Wild duck constellation" (we forgot the official names for them cuz it was made up of a bunch of numbers). The Park assistant was so nice and friendly and taught us so much on how to look out for the constellations. If you have no idea what you're watching, you'll very likely miss the constellation and think of it as a random cluster of stars instead. But having told us that this particular constellation is made up of a stick-figure-looking ET with arms and legs stretched out, leaning toward the left, it became effortless to see what he was talking about. The wild duck constellation, on the other hand, required you to use "averted vision", something new we learnt on the trip. This basically means you'll have to dart your eyes briefly around (left, right, top, bottom) the constellation itself in order to get a vision of it (in the centre). The minute i laid my eyes on the constellation itself, the cluster of stars disappear, as if playing hide-and-seek with me. it was so fascinating digesting so much new information and understanding a bit of our sky a bit more.
We also learnt that stars do move and change its position. But they do it at such a slow pace that generations of humans probably wont get to witness it. So in our lifetime, and a couple of other lifetimes down the road, these very stars we observed will seem to retain its position, night after night.
Finally, to round up the trip, we went on a Scorpion walk in the Sand Dunes. It was challenging walking on very fine sand and having no other light to guide your way. but still, it was fun doing it with a bunch of other people (or strangers). I didnt expect to spot any scorpion because the guide told us that they dont appear all the time, especially if they sense movements from a bunch of humans trying to observe them. But we had the fortune of spotting one just 5 minutes into our walk!!
We could only use UV light to avoid disrupting the star gazing experience, so that explains the color of the scorpion and its surroundings. We didnt know that scorpion shell could glow in the dark!!
So that pretty much summed up my awesome long weekend. Thank you for always being there for me and making sure i get to have fun in this really boring, cold (figuratively) town :-) Love you so much!!
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