What a wonderful and amazing scheme have we here of the magnificent vastness of the Universe! So many Suns, so many Worlds!

CHRISTIAN HUYGENS (ca. 1670)

Every once in a while, an event occurs that reminds me why I do what I do. For me, this happened recently during one of our stargazing workshops, when I introduced a group of young, inquisitive minds to the captivating spectacle that is Omega Centauri.

To lay eyes on Omega Centauri for the first time is a thrilling experience. Through the lens of our visual telescope, an unassuming point of light in our night sky transformed into 10 million suns, each one twinkling with a history stretching back billions of years, long before our Earth was formed. Amidst a chorus of "oohs" and "aahs," I watched their eyes widen with wonder and curiosity.

After the visual observation, we moved on to capture an image of Omega Centauri. In a gesture of participation, everyone extended their fingers towards the shutter button. As a countdown echoed through the air, all fingers pressed down together, collectively capturing a snapshot of the cosmos. This photograph(as shown below) is a result of many tiny fingers and one button pressed, a collective memory, a shared experience immortalized in the picture.

One little boy called Mowgli, just under 6 years old, was utterly enthralled by what we captured. Clasping an iPad in his tiny hands, he eagerly dove into the image we had captured of Omega Centauri. He zoomed in on the image and viewed every single corner of the cluster as if he was travelling among the stars. His wide eyes mirrored the stars he was viewing: bright, awe-inspiring, and filled with infinite curiosity. His fascination was so profound that when it was time for him to leave, he couldn't peel his eyes away from the image. This moment of discovery, of seeing a young mind absorb the vastness of the universe with such joy and intrigue, reminded me of the transformative power of stargazing.

The following images are two other deep-sky objects taken by our guests that night. The first one is the Carina Nebula(taken by Austin Jone), and the second one is Centaurus A Galaxy (taken by Mason Jones); both extraordinarily beautiful and awe-inspiring.

As is customary in our workshops, we also took photographs of all the guests with the backdrop of the core of the Milky Way, an experience that always leaves attendees excited. You could see the joy and amazement in people's faces, illuminated by the ethereal glow of countless stars. These images not only capture a moment in time, but also the expression of an unforgettable experience – a tangible connection to the stars that we could take back home.