That guy at Bryce Canyon who told me my telescope was 'overkill'

I was out at Bryce Canyon last October, setting up my 10-inch Dobsonian for a night of deep sky viewing. This older guy walks up, maybe 65, with this tiny little 60mm refractor on a flimsy tripod. He looks at my setup and says, 'You know you can't see the Andromeda Galaxy with all that light pollution, right?' I just laughed and showed him the core through my eyepiece. He didn't say another word for like 10 minutes, just stood there staring. Has anyone else had someone try to gatekeep your gear at a dark site?

3 comments

3 Comments

diana_west2719d ago

Got to thinking about this and honestly I wonder if some of these gatekeeping types are actually just embarrassed about their own setup or lack of knowledge. Like that guy with the 60mm refractor, he probably spent years convincing himself that a bigger scope was pointless because of light pollution, and then you come along and prove him wrong in one look through the eyepiece. It hits different when someone's been telling themselves a story to feel better about their gear and then reality smacks them in the face. Maybe he thought that if he couldn't afford or justify a big Dob, then nobody else should be enjoying one either. But the way he stood there quiet for 10 minutes tells me he was probably just processing that he could upgrade someday and actually see things.

lunaf6719d ago

You ever notice @diana_west27 how some folks just double down until they actually look through something decent? I've seen it happen at a few star parties where someone brings a loaner dob and suddenly the gatekeeper is asking where to buy one.

thompson.reese18d ago

Man I felt that story in my bones. Last year I showed up to a dark site with my little 8-inch dob thinking I was hot stuff, and some guy with a 16-inch truss tube just looked at me and said "cute" under his breath. I stood there quiet for a solid five minutes too, but mostly cause I was trying to figure out how to sneak my tires up to his truck without him noticing.