I just got back from a family reunion over Thanksgiving. Among other things, I had a chance to sit down with my dad and talk about astronomy. He was the one who got me interested back when I was a little girl and he has always taken pride in my astronomy writing and career. He’s a sunspot watcher and has been for a long time. I didn’t know that until he showed me 11 years worth of drawings he had done at the telescope, tracking sunspots for nearly a whole solar min-max cycle. Pretty amazing and it took a lot of dedication for him to do that.

Not too many others in our family are interested in astronomy, although I have a couple of nieces who show some promise. I do my best to stoke what glimmerings of interest do show up, by answering their questions, telling them about upcoming celestial events, and so on. It’s my little bit to keep the love of the skies alive. Well, that and the planetarium stuff! And the books…