Trying to Follow in Christy’s Footsteps (Sort Of)
So, James Christy. The name pops up, and I think about finding things, really seeing things others missed. He spotted Charon, Pluto’s moon, back in ’78. Just saw this weird bulge on Pluto pictures over and over. Takes a certain kind of eye, right?
I remember reading about how he did it. Old school photographic plates from a telescope. Not like today with fancy digital cameras and software stacking images for you. He had these physical plates, had to compare them meticulously. Noticing a tiny elongation that wasn’t supposed to be there. Sounds simple, but man, the patience involved.
Made me think I should try something similar. Not discovering moons, obviously. I’m not that ambitious, or equipped. But I got this idea a while back, maybe during lockdown when everyone was picking up weird hobbies. I thought, hey, let’s try some basic backyard astronomy. Maybe try to spot something faint, something tricky.
So, I dusted off an old telescope I had. Nothing fancy, pretty basic reflector. First problem: light pollution. My backyard looks like Times Square at night. Seeing anything faint is a joke. Okay, plan B. Drive out somewhere dark. Packed the car, telescope bouncing around in the back seat. Found a spot. Freezing cold, by the way.
- Set up the telescope. Fiddly business in the dark.
- Tried to find Pluto. Forget Charon, just Pluto itself!
- Used online charts, apps, everything.
- Spent maybe two hours squinting. Saw lots of stars. Maybe Jupiter? Hard to tell.
Honestly, it was kind of a disaster. My fingers were numb. The eyepiece kept fogging up. I couldn’t get the focus sharp enough. And the sheer scale of the sky… finding one specific, tiny, dim point of light felt impossible. Gave up eventually. Packed everything back up, feeling pretty defeated.
This whole thing happened because I was working on this project at my old job. We had to analyze these huge datasets, looking for tiny anomalies. Like finding a needle in a haystack made of needles. My boss kept saying, “Pay attention to the details! Be meticulous!” And I was like, yeah, yeah, I know. But after that freezing night trying to find Pluto, I kinda got it on a different level.
I was stuck on that data project for weeks. Kept running reports, staring at spreadsheets until my eyes blurred. Just like Christy staring at those plates, probably. Except he actually found something amazing. Me? I found a few accounting errors that saved the company like, fifty bucks. Whoopee.
Got laid off from that job a few months later, actually. Whole department restructuring, usual corporate speak. Maybe they needed someone who could actually find the important anomalies, not just the fifty-dollar ones. Found something else eventually, totally different field. Less staring at spreadsheets, which is a plus.
But yeah, thinking about James Christy now just reminds me of that freezing night, and that annoying data project. Makes you appreciate the discoveries, you know? It’s not just luck. It’s hours and hours of often boring, frustrating work, squinting at blurry images or endless numbers until something clicks. Most of the time, nothing clicks. But sometimes, you find a whole new moon.
