I had my first introduction to astronomy when I was four; My mother took me to a
local star party. The only part of that night that I remember well was being held
up to a telescope and looking in it at Uranus and then being held up to another
telescope to see Neptune. I didn't want to be put down. I found the greenish-blue
hues against the blackness of space entrancing.
That first introduction left such an impression on me that I went on to recieve
a B.S. in Astrophysics. Now, I'm a data reduction operator for the National
Solar Observatory's GONG project. Though I now know much more about the stars and
planets,that knowledge has not jaded me to the beauty of the universe.
Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home
I think it is presumptuous to think that our corner of the universe is a unique pocket.
The universe is so large and life so varied that it is scientifically irresponsible to
make claims that Earth is the only place where life exists. We may never find
any evidence that we are not alone in the universe, but we should endevor to
look because we are the first proof to ourselves that there is life in this
universe.
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.
