“There is something about seeing the universe with your own eyes,” says Ed. “It’s remarkable. It’s remark- able that a man can do that.” Asked to design their perfect evening, the Edwards
set the stage with an electrical black out, clear skies and no moon. With these conditions in place, Carolyn would grab her telescope and set it up on the patio while Ed would step into his backyard observatory, also known as his “playhouse,” flip a switch on the com- puter and begin scouring the sky for stars, planets and moons. The Edwards’ observatory is the latest in a series of
purchases that make viewing the heavens from their suburban backyard both exciting and comfortable. The small structure houses a telescope and a computer and is topped with a dome that opens to the sky. Protecting the delicate instruments is the observatory’s main pur- pose, but it also creates a cozy getaway for star-struck observers. The scope housed in the observatory boasts
brinGinG the Sky DoWn
to eArth inSpireS A SenSe of WonDer in people, AnD
cArolyn AnD eD loVe to ShAre their WonDer With Anyone behinD A teleScope
a 10-inch aperture, a large enough light source to send viewers to the rings of Saturn or to watch the universe give birth to new stars. Ed types in his destination on the computer, and the telescope adjusts to provide an up close view of that precise celestial body. Carolyn, who caught the amateur astronomy bug
more recently than her husband, enjoyed a backseat position to Ed’s hobby until, in 2008, she decided it was time to invest in her own scope. She researched and ordered the instrument, then put it together her- self. While Ed combs the night sky in his playhouse, Carolyn prefers to hunt down objects in the sky by manually moving her 8-inch telescope. The thrill is in the hunt, Carolyn says. Now when she locks into position on favorite constellations, “It’s like finding old friends.”
Introducing these long distance friends to non-
astronomers has become another favorite pastime for the Edwards. The Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, an
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