Do you remember Casey Kasem and his oft-repeated mantra: “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars”? This could very well be Pat Stewart’s motto, who serves as a volunteer and board member at large for the Louisville Astronomical Society (LAS).
After retiring as a teaching assistant from Jefferson County Public Schools, Pat began to look for new ways to keep learning and stay engaged in the community. A friend suggested that she check into the Astronomical Society where Pat quickly found her passion. “I love everything about it,” Pat says, “It’s science in the making!” Pat was in seventh grade when John Glenn orbited the earth, and she had just graduated high school as Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. She has been fascinated with space ever since. Her love of our outer atmosphere was rekindled about five years ago when Pat attended an event called Bernheim at Night: Spring Star Stories and Sky Watch led by astronomer and LAS Board Chairman, Don Spain. “By the end of the evening, I was hooked! The sky was perfect; we didn’t even need a flashlight. He pointed out so many planets and stars, and truly got everyone excited,” Pat says. She joined LAS shortly thereafter.
Scientists are learning new things all the time, and I can listen, learn, and be part of that.”
The group meets at the planetarium at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, and at the LAS Dark Site, an observatory in Curby, Indiana. At first worried that she would need her own telescope, Pat quickly found that purchasing one was not necessary. In addition to group gatherings, Pat works with the kids at LAS events, hands out stickers, takes their photos with life-size astronaut cut-outs, and helps point out the features in the night sky that the astronomers are discussing.
“Just to be in this ever-changing atmosphere is incredible. Scientists are learning new things all the time, and I can listen, learn, and be part of that,” Pat says. She has seen planetary conjunctions, which occur when two or more planets can be observed at one time in the sky. “They have found there is now water on Mars, and it’s so exciting to hear the scientists speculate on what that could mean for the future.”
Pat has enjoyed learning more about space travel, the speed of light, and the International Space Station. She eagerly awaits the day when the first photos return from NASA’s Golden Eye Telescope. Not only does Pat feel she has a front-row seat to the latest scientific happenings, she loves other benefits to her sky-study hobby. “Being part of LAS gets me out, keeps me active, and gives me a chance to mix and mingle with new people,” she says. “I’d like to invite everyone to come out and join the Louisville Astronomical Society. Where else can they get a chance to walk among the stars?”
While she treasures all that space and sky have to teach her, Pat stays close to the ground when asked to choose one earthly item that brings her joy. “I collected a lot of special stamps, framed them, and put them in my living room to enjoy. There are solar system stamps, as well as ones picturing the sun, the moon, and Pluto. I also included the Star Trek Final Frontier stamps,” Pat says. Pat can’t spend every day in an observatory (although she goes as often as possible), but these special mementos allow her to appreciate on a daily basis the hobby that has come to mean so much to her.
By Megan S. Willman | Photo by Erika Doll
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