I just about fell on my arse the first time I saw Saturn through my telescope, actually looking at it and seeing the rings. Rings, right around a planet, right there. I couldn't see a lot of of detail because it's a fairly small refractor but there it was, a planet with rings.
Rings. Right around a whole fucking planet. Right there for everyone with a couple of hundred quid's worth of glass and aluminium and a reasonable view of the night sky to see. Just, right there in the sky, bright and clear.
I know exactly what you mean. I saw it with a £40 amazon telescope.
You know that weird feeling when you, for whatever reason, take another route from somewhere you know well, find you've arrived at an unusual end of another place you know well. The moment of connection, realisation that these two places are linked in this way.
I felt that, but on a huge level seeing Saturn's rings for the first time. For years outerspace, without me realising, occupied a place in my encyclopedias, books, internet images from NASA. Maybe subconscious me didn't really 'believe' it was actually just above my head this whole time.
Rings. Right around a whole fucking planet. Right there for everyone with a couple of hundred quid's worth of glass and aluminium and a reasonable view of the night sky to see. Just, right there in the sky, bright and clear.