Despite my admitted inability to speak fluent French, I have talked to these people many times, using a combination of English for the formal talks and my limited French at other times.  On this most recent trip I shared my life to groups in Quebec (for the third time) and I got to know the members of a young astronomy club in St. Felicien, a town far enough north of Quebec that it was getting snow while the more densely populated southern parts of the province got rain.  Despite this, the weather was clear for the evening of my talk; after it was over we got to look at Jupiter through some of the club’s telescopes.    My host there, Claude, has a Celestron telescope that he uses for electronic imaging.

In each presentation I emphasized that the most common question I get from children is this:  “How do I become an astronomer.”  The answer, you might think, is to learn all the math and physics that you can, but that is not my answer.  “To become an astronomer, it helps to read as much as you can, in any language.  Read Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables; it is one of the best novels ever written.  When we are introduced to Jean Valjean, the lead character, we get to know him not by his name but rather by his prison inmate number, 24601.  Does that mean anything?  It does now.  Recently I suggested that the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center honor Hugo by naming asteroid number 24601, which was discovered by Lubos Kohoutek in the 1970s, Valjean.  The audiences loved the fact that I could report that the name has just been approved.

While my trip was still going on, I received an invitation from President Michael Wood and Advancement Vice President Michael Gibbs of Capitol College in Greenbelt, Maryland, near Washington D.C.  That was a good development, a chance to enjoy the company of someone I respect very much.  Michael Gibbs has just completed a stint working as development officer for the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and is now Vice President at Capitol College..  This college is small—its enrollment is about 1000 students—but elite, enjoying close contacts with NASA’s Goddard Space flight Center, which is almost walking distance away.  Capitol’s own Space Center trains students to use real data from real missions to train and to analyze spacecraft behavior, and even be prepared to send commands to spacecraft.  

Although my lecture at Capitol, given in the morning of Thursday, November 19, was strongly tied to their own STEM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), I tried to add a “P” to the mixture—P for passion.  I used my own story and added some experiences on how Shakespeare can be related to astronomy in so many ways.  During the afternoon I enjoyed a freewheeling discussion on how a brief course might help tie the learning experiences of the night sky with literature. 

How do these twin visits, in different countries, relate to Sharing the Sky?  Our foundation tries to use any weapon at its disposal to inject enthusiasm into people, particularly young people, to inspire them to look skyward.  I think that a large part of this inspiration can come from reading works of Literature, or even listening to music, and discovering the relationships that exist therein that point toward the sky.  When you go the website of a commercial telescope manufacturer, you can even check if they enjoy some cosmic connection back to classic literature.  Starizona does—(www.starizona.com) they particularly offer for sale my book “Starry Night”, which describes those relationships throughout time.  And Explore Scientific, (www.explorescientific.com and www.explorealliance.com) through its heroic efforts to bring more people into astronomy, runs close to that heavenly line that merges these great fields of writing and observing, fields designed to make heart and mind soar into the night.