Nerd alert!

Science has always been my favorite subject ever since i was a kid. As i grew up, it has been the field i've been pursuing and eventually got into. Right now, i may have found my niche in medicine but astronomy will always be my first love. Pursuing space exploration as a career is a dream that will always remain a dream.

Stars, galaxies and other cosmic stuff fascinate me sometimes to the point of obsession. Well, not really as im not very fond of the Physics and the Math that goes along with it. I have fond memories of this fascination when i was young. My parents bought us this 12-volume science encyclopedia where each volume was devoted to a specific science branch like biology, medicine, geology, etc. The volume that was not always in the shelf, as you may have guessed, was the astronomy volume.

I've seen the gray, crater-y surface of the moon with a small-time telescope our dad bought us back when i was in gradeschool. When i got into highschool, biology class taught me how to use the microscope. It was only then that i learned that focusing things under the microscope is very much like focusing things through a telescope. I mean both apparatus make use of different objectives/lenses and have fine and coarse adjustment knobs. It was just too bad that by the time i knew this, my younger brother had already dismantled our precious telescope. =( Because that's what kids do. i never had the chance to take a closer look at Venus, Jupiter, Mars or even the rings of Saturn (that's what was written in the package insert of the telescope).

As i became an adult, i still carried with me that interest even if i was too preoccupied with the science that i am into now, Medicine. I still try to be updated with the latest astronomical events like meteor showers, eclipses or Supermoon and i try to see them personally whenever i get the chance (those chances were very few). I blogged about my Venusian transit experience in 2004 and got excited about the Pluto flyby last month that i regret not blogging about it. I frequently check the NASA website, follow astronauts on Twitter and Instagram. Recently, i watched the "Gravity" and "Interstellar" and at present, i am reading "The Martian" by Andy Weir. I just couldn't help but be captivated by the mysteries of the outer space.

There's a lot more that i need to cross out in my "cosmic" list like seeing the Milky Way and the International Space Station with my naked eye. I am one step closer to the latter thanks to this website which i wish i knew about earlier! Basically, you just need to register and then you will receive alerts via email or SMS 12 hours before the ISS appears in your night sky which depends upon which area you are in. All the other info about viewing the ISS can be found here. This is actually the only reason i wanted to blog today.