I bought a telescope, yet I am not an
astronomer
by Shahzady S. Dassum
54-year old Juan Suquillo wondered about the stars and the cosmos ever since he
was 8 years old. At night he would watch and contemplate the immense dark sky
from the roof of his house accomplanied always by his father. After 40 years
Suquillo buys a telescope and continues to wonder about space as he observes it
through the big lens.
Since when were you interested in the stars and the cosmos?
I used to watch them with my father from the roof of my house in Quito and had
may questions such as, why are some stars brighter than others? or, how was all
this formed? The more I knew the more questions kept on popping out. My father
would answer some of them and some others not.
Which questions could your father answer?
I asked him once about what constellations were. He told me they were groups of
stars which appear at a certain place in the sky (or, at least that is how it is seen
form Earth). He talked about the “Osa Mayor” and “Osa menor” (Ursa Major and
Ursa Minor) and showed me the “Cruz del Sur” (Cross of the South). These
constellations would help sailors locate thmeselves in whenever they undertook a
journey in the sea. I became fascinated with the concept. Everything started to
make sense to me.
What started to make sense?
The more I knew about this universe which was so superior to me, the more
intriguing was to me the Being who created it, such huge and immense cosmos
could not have come to existance by mere chance and coincidence. Everything fit
into a perfect combination.
When did you buy the telescope you have now?
I bought it less than a decade ago. I wanted to go back to observe the sky, this
time through a HD lense that would make me appreciate what is up there. I try
now to encourage my children to become interested in this.
What do you recommend to the people to who are interested in astronomy to
do before buying a telescope?
I recommend them to have a guide from someone who is knowlegdeable, or to
read from a book. Observing the sky with no guidelines and no clue is somehow
going back to the middle ages in the time of Galileo and starting form scratch. I
needed the information that my father gave me in order to learn more, understand
and continue.
What have you learned, or discovered?
Actually sometimes it is not about “discovering” anything, you might find
something as well as you might not. Learning about astonomy and all that
surrounds me has been a great benefit for me. It makes me a more aware person
and reminds me of my minuscule position in this universe, yet I dare to say I feel
grateful for life. I observe now the “Cruz del Sur” from my balcony in Quito’s
cloudless sky on a summer night.