It is hot. I haven’t had time to set up the encoder, so I’m navigating through the small slit in the dome, working my way from the ladder to the telescope trying not to lose the stars in the process. Fortunately, Lyra’s a small constellation and Vega’s bright. I find the two stars in the parallelogram where the ring nebula lies between.

I find it with no problem and offer the visitors a peek. I explain they need to use their adverted vision to make out the fuzzy cheerio that is the blown off shell of a dead star. As they look, I ask if they can see it. They give a doubtful affirmation. The tracking motor isn’t working, so I double check the scope to make sure the nebula is still visible. It is, and I see it with clarity. I place it in the center of the field of view and offer them another try.

I remember the first time I was shown the ring nebula in the observatory’s telescope. It was over a year ago, and I had a hard time seeing it. It occurs to me that my eyes have changed, that I’m tuned into observing.

The next night this is echoed. As we do an observing for a local park, I’m showing the group Alberio. Half the people can make out the blue and yellow star. Others have trouble. One older man even comments that the blue star looks green. I explain that the variations are possibly differences in eyes and experience.

This observing is following a lecture by a retired professional astronomer with the Harvard Smithsonian something or other. After we work through the crowd, he stops by my telescope and we chat. I know just enough to carry on a relatively intelligent conversation with such a person. After looking at Alberio, he suggest we look at Hercules Alpha, another double. He points to it with his laser pointer and ask me to point the scope in that direction. I get in focus, and he confirms I’ve got the right one. Then I switch to a higher power and the double appears, a bright white being orbited by a greenish star.

We talk about telescopes, measuring stars, and get to know each other. It is social and educational, completely geeky.