One of the things we did on our epic trip south (no it wasn't really epic, but we did drive from the north coast of Scotland to almost the south coast of Devon and then back again in 6 days) was to stop on the way home at a shop in Sale and pick up OH's new toy. It's a telescope, as astronomy is his latest interest. He'd bought it already, but said we would pick it up rather than have it consigned to the mercy of the post/couriers. A wise move I'm sure.
It's not a telescope as Nelson would have known it of course; not one of those things you put to your eye and peer down. Or up, as the case may be. No no no. It sits on a tripod and looks a bit like an elongated drum with an eyepiece sticking out to one side. Yes I know - very technical description. Anyway he set it up last night in the garden (I knew that was what he was doing because there was noise and there was a horrible draught ) and after a while he came in and said 'I've got Saturn, do you want to see it?' Now of course there are two possible answers to this question, but I had just been commenting to a friend on Facebook about how she was a much more supportive wife than I am, and it seemed to me that this was a chance for me to be supportive in a way which didn't involve helping anyone to saw steel pipes in half and reinforce the side of the track to the house. In fact all it asked of me was to step outside the door and peer down an eye-piece. So I did.
And I'm glad because I saw Saturn and I saw the rings, very clearly, and I'm told I should have been able to see one of the moons as well. I couldn't but come on! one of my eyes is only good for letting in limited amounts of light and the other one is a long way from perfect. Seeing a shining silver Saturn surrounded by shining silver rings was actually quite enough for me. If I'm honest, it was a bit of a thrill.
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