My Life Under the Stars

May 2006  :  Tracey Haley

Tracey Haley with his daughters Meaghan and Katherine
Tracey Haley with his daughters Meaghan (left) and Katherine (right).
My first memories of a star studded life, begin as a boy in the early 1970s. I came from a family of six and my father worked many hours to make ends meet. Unlike family vacations today, ours was the occasional family camping trip. The smells and tastes of roasted marshmallow smores still make my mouth water. The nights seem to always be crystal clear and the pinpoints of the stars sharp. There was no light pollution of a major city or nearby neighborhood. The nights were alive with creatures of the night, singing, croaking, and chirping. My favorite thing to do was to stay up late, wrapped up in a sleeping bag and look up at the pitch-black of night, or a luminous Moon. In an age when human missions to the lunar surface were so frequent, my dreams of flight took off.

As I grew older and the family camping trips dwindled, I would spend many nights by a fire at the beaches with my high school friends, always looking up and wondering how far life would take us. I guess I have always looked to the skies to find an inner peace that few things afforded me. Later in my twenties when I started to realize the true challenges in life, a grand event had caught my attention.

The year was 1993 and a comet had made headline news. This was no ordinary comet, but one that had ventured to close to the massive planet Jupiter. Being torn apart by the planet’s deadly gravitational field, it was shredded into twenty-one segments. After its orbit was calculated and all bets were on the comet plowing into the very planet that had ripped it apart on its earlier obit. This comet was named Shoemaker-Levy 9 after its founders David Levy, and Eugene and Carolyn Shoemaker. In July 1994 the comet fragments one by one plowed into Jupiter, producing huge black spots. My first looks at these black spots were through the Ladd Observatory’s 12-inch refractor. It was this event that changed me from occasional stargazer to amateur astronomer.

I first purchased a 60mm refractor which I was able to view the damage comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 had left behind. After about a year and a half of saving my money I purchased a Meade 8-inch f/6.3 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. I had the equipment now but was lacking something very important. With any interest or hobby, it is always best to have someone to share it with. My family and friends had only a look once and “that’s nice” response at the eyepiece. I knew I had to find others who felt the same calling to the night sky as I had.

On a winter day in February I spent some time at the Cormack Planetarium learning about the night sky. Upon leaving the planetarium I found a registration form for The Skyscrapers Inc., Amateur Astronomical Society of Rhode Island. I had found what I needed, a whole group of people with my interests. I sent in my registration form, and at the next monthly meeting I became an official Skyscraper.

The next year was one of new friends, new learning, and feeling of pride. With my knowledge of astronomy expanding, so had my universe. With my new marriage and a newborn baby girl, I decided to put a hold on Skyscrapers and devote my time to my new family.

Five years and three beautiful children later, the time had come to rejoin Skyscrapers. I have been an active member now for a year and a half. I have met some great new friends and attended several fantastic lectures and events. I enjoy the company of friends who share my interests in astronomy and have also introduced my two oldest girls to what I hope turns into a lifetime interest in science. Thanks to Skyscrapers for having such a wonderful impact on my life.

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