The Professor
August 27, 2003
we were brainstorming planetary ideas, vocabulary, & questions when we departed for the professor's house. words like stratosphere and polar caps were pulled to the forefront of our brains. we wanted a level intellectual playing field upon our future discussion with the professor. we wanted to at least sound smart if not precocious. "excellent point, ian" i would say matter-of-factly upon our first view of the fourth planet from the sun. "mars is named after the god of War. and ben, excellent conclusion that mars has a mass of 6.4219e23 kg. i think you may be accurate." brainstorming only lasted for seconds. instead we shed our planet-primed brain cells to led zeppelin as we cruised down mc cormick- ian air drumming the whole-lotta-love rhythm solo and ben rapping on the steering wheel between gear shifts.
the professor received us in his backyard. the telescope was propped facing east and we each observed mars under five different magnifications and through two filters. we increased the magnification power until it could not cut through the atmosphere.
"The atmosphere causes the planet to wiggle when you observe it in the lens," the professor explained at one point. the planet did wiggle a little which caused blurry edges that made the planet look like a live specimen caught under a microscope rather than a free circulating planet viewed by a telescope. it's amazing how small we are, how tiny our galaxy is in relation to the rest of space, and how almost nonexistent our little rockin brown jetta was on the long drive home.