I’ve always had a childish fascination with astronomy.

I remember as a child,

– My father pointing out Venus rising above the streetlight across the road,

– watching solar eclipses through a pinhole camera,

– watching the stars roll overhead on long drives to our small batch

– I vividly remember watching the Challenger launch on TV at age 6

And so tonight, by chance, I pointed my lens to the a burning sun,

It was, I thought, a benign red,

shielded by mist to appear as a plain red ball

When I lowered the camera from my eye

to check the result

I was in for a giant surprise

I leapt up and down with delight and amazement

I stiffled an excited yelp as I took a 2nd shot to check it wasn’t dust on my camera

Same again.

I raced downstairs to S1 (almost tripping 1/2 way in my excitement)

She just gave me the same ‘you’re just a big kid aren’t you’ look that she always does…

but that hasn’t phased me, I’ve been leaping about excitedly all night.

So what has me acting like a kid again?

If you look closely,

you will see it

Tonight I managed to catch my very first sun spots.