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HAVING SPENT 16 years trapped in a concrete jungle, the sky has always seemed very distant.

Although I developed an interest in the planets and stars long before primary school, their distance put me off exploring astronomy further.

I did not know how to appreciate the magic of the universe until I met Jackie Hui Wan-ching -  a schoolmate who was later to become my personal astronomy teacher!

I remember the day I joined the school's astronomy society in Form One.

When I saw Wan-ching during the club's introductory session, we quickly recognised each other.

We were the only two students from our class who had signed up as new members of the society.

'Do you like astronomy as well?' I asked.

'Yes!' she replied. At that time, I did not suspect that she knew an amazing amount about astronomy, whereas my knowledge on the subject was only limited to the solar system.

However, with Wan-ching's help, I soon left the solar system behind and began exploring outer space.

Wan-ching, another classmate and I started going on stargazing trips with other amateur astronomy clubs. We could go stargazing nearly every month at that time because we had a lighter workload.

Wan-ching taught me how to identify the constellations. Some are easy to see.

I remember when I first saw tiny Saturn and its rings with a telescope, I was so impressed that all I could say was 'Wow!'

I did not know that planets such as Saturn and Jupiter appear in the sky like ordinary, sparkling stars, or that we could find them just by looking in the right direction.

'Oh great! There are no clouds! There are as many stars as ants!' Wan-ching would say as we all laid down looking at the starry sky.

When the temperature dropped, we buried ourselves under blankets against the biting cold. Other stargazers turned on their CD players and we enjoyed evenings of audio-visual entertainment.

We joined long queues to catch a glimpse of galaxies through the telescope.

During one meteor-gazing session, though we were tired, we kept our eyes fixed on the sky for fear that we might miss even one. We would shout excitedly after sighting a flash across the sky. These memories will remain with me for life.

In Form Three, we took part in an astronomy quiz organised by the Hong Kong Space Museum on behalf of our school. We were second runner-up! The time spent attending astronomy seminars at the museum for years had finally paid off.

As time passed, we went out stargazing less frequently due to a heavier workload. After the HKCEE, Wan-ching went to study in the United States.

We will not be able to go out and enjoy the beauty of the universe together for a while, but I still manage to steal a moment or two from my hectic schedule to gaze at the starry sky. The thought that we still live under the same sky is comforting.

Carmen Chan is a Young Post student reporter from St Paul's Secondary School



Girl discovers the wonders of the universe with her classmate and personal astronomy expert