I was browsing through a document the other day that describes a new shopping mall in Boulder, Colorado called “Twenty Ninth Street.” It’s a new concept for a mall, a sort of “retail district” that features many of the same stores you’d see at upscale shopping malls (and some unique ones), but set in a village-like setting with streets and (gasp) on-street parking. It’s very nice and we DID do some shopping while there.
But, that’s not why I was reading about it. I wanted to know more about another part of the mall that really caught my imagination: the science exhibits. Now that I’ve done a few science exhibits (she said dryly), I tend to notice these things.

This set of outdoor exhibits is scattered throughout the grounds of the mall in a series of science pavilions. Each pavilion has exhibits and artefacts from some of the science research labs located in Boulder. The labs include the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (my old stomping grounds), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA, another of my old stomping grounds), the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the Space Science Institute (with whom we worked to create a planetarium show about Mars a few years ago).

The whole “Wonder of Science” exhibition is a permanent, on-site installation that gives the people of Boulder a feel for the science being done in their home town. I found it kind of interesting that in one of the mall’s press releases, the senior property manager, Lain Adams explained that the idea behind the exhibition is that most shopping centers have visitor traffic levels that exceed most museums. That idea led to the development of museum-quality exhibits interspersed throughout the shops.

I guess that makes sense in a cool kind of way. Many science museums now feature gift shops, so it’s great that a shopping mall can feature a science museum. I wonder how many other malls will do the same thing?

Speaking of shopping, about this time of year I get requests from family and friends (and more than a few readers) to recommend cool astronomy-related holiday gifts to give. I’ve built The Spacewriter’s Gift Shop to help point you to some good gift ideas. It’s on Amazon.com and if you buy anything from the site, Amazon sends a little money my way, which I use to help maintain my website and pay for hosting. If you know of any other products I should be recommending (and I DO try them out before I recommend them), drop me a line.

Every year about this time astronomers and planetarium folk the world over (whether amateur or professional) get variations on the following question from well-meaning friends and relatives: “My niece / nephew / son / daughter / husband / wife / mom / dad / friend / boss / coworker is interested in astronomy. I’d like to get them an astronomy-related holiday gift. What can you suggest?”

It’s a tough one to answer because everybody’s relationship to the stars is different. The professional might think that it would be cool to get a grant extension on the current research he or she is doing, while the amateur might be thinking of his or her next eyepiece purchase!

Seriously though, it’s a question we do hear a lot. I’ve mentioned this before in my blog entries, but I’ve created a little reference library and “gift shop” on my website called the Helen Sawyer Hogg Memorial Library and Gift Shop. I recommend you check it out because it has a lot of gift ideas, reviews, and links to helpful articles at Sky & Telescope that can help you decide on hardware purchases for the enthusiast in your life.

Another big question we get a lot has to do with what telescope or binoculars to buy for an astronomy-minded person. THAT is a tough one to answer because it really does require us to know just what the giftee is going to be looking at with the optics. Actually, one of my responses is usually, “Does the person you’re buying this for (even if it’s for yourself) know much about the sky?” The reason I ask that question is that before you go out and spend a lot of money on decent binoculars or telescopes, you (or your intended recipient) should know a little something about the stars, like how to find your way around the sky, basic constellation outlines, and some elementary star-hopping techniques.

I do have some books and star wheels listed at my little impromptu gift shop, and those are quite useful tools to help you and your friends learn the night sky. Think of it as learning to read the map before you set out on a cross-country drive in a new car. Once you know your way around—and a little about the jargon and nomenclature of stargazing—it’s immensely easier to get around the sky. Then, after you’ve spent some time familiarizing yourself with the target areas you want to study, you can point that telescope or binoculars to them with great confidence and explore in more detail!

If you visit my reference pages you will find that I’ve got some telescopes and binoculars listed. I’ve used those pieces of equipment (or models very similar to them) and feel confident about recommending them to users. One thing you will NOT see on those pages are links to cheap, department-store telescopes. Every year you can just about bet that there will be some “deals” on telescopes that seem too good to be true. About 99.9 percent of the time, they ARE too good to be true. You’ll see things like “magnifies the universe by 600X!” which, of course, tells you nothing about what it will be like to look through the telescope. They also don’t tell you that the optics in these cheap scopes are likely to be plastic, or poorly made glass. If you’ve ever looked through a pair of dirty glasses you’ll have a good idea of how the universe will look through these “deals.” Finally, even if the optics WERE good in these products, they’re usually connected to flimsy mounts that don’t hold the telescope rock solid as you view through it. The result of buying one of these things? A telescope in the closet and a disappointed user. So, while it may cost more to buy a quality piece of equipment, it pays off in the long run with a satisfied user.

My recommendation for someone just starting out is a good book on astronomy, a star wheel to help them find their way around the sky, or software if your recipient is computer-inclined. The possibilities for exploring the universe on the pages of a good book are endless. Star wheels are easy to use and never go out of style, and software gives the user an incredible depth of knowledge from which to begin any number of stellar explorations. If they get hooked on astronomy, there’s always time later on to move up to that pair of binoculars or a telescope!

Finally, nothing beats the gift of your time and presence with your intended recipient. Get that star wheel and learn how to use it with them. Read the book to each other. Let some good space music send you to the depths of the cosmos. Set up that little toy planetarium for your child and use it to do a little indoor exploring when the weather doesn’t allow outdoor stargazing.

It’s big universe out there, just waiting for you to explore and enjoy it!