Finally Found My Astronomy People!

Let’s face it - I’m basically a hermit. Most of my hobbies involve me sitting alone in a dark room staring at either code or stars. Not exactly the stuff that builds a thriving social calendar.

I’ve been obsessed with astronomy for ages now (as anyone who’s seen my ridiculous Night Sky Pi project can attest), but it’s always been just me, freezing my butt off at 2am, trying to figure out if that blurry dot is Jupiter or just an airplane.

So there I was, falling down some internet rabbit hole one night (probably looking up something embarrassingly nerdy), when Google spat out a link to the Loughton Astronomical Society. At first I thought, “Ugh, Loughton’s a pain to drive to,” but it turns out they’re actually based in Theydon Bois now - the name’s just a leftover from their early days. That’s only about 25 minutes from my place - practically next door by my standards!

By some cosmic coincidence (pun absolutely intended), they were having a public open night that very week. I debated with myself for days about whether to actually go - new people, new place, the whole social anxiety package - but eventually forced myself out the door.

And you know what? It was actually… fun? Everyone was super welcoming, not a hint of that gatekeeping nonsense you sometimes get with hobby groups. There’s this amazing mix of knowledge levels too - some folks who’ve literally written astronomy textbooks mingling with people who are just figuring out which end of a telescope to look through.

The biggest shock was finding out they meet WEEKLY. I was expecting a monthly thing at most, but nope - every Thursday night, rain or shine. For someone whose idea of a packed social calendar was “yearly dentist appointment,” this is borderline overwhelming. But in a good way? It’s weirdly nice knowing I have somewhere to be every week that isn’t my couch.

And these aren’t just casual hangouts either - they’ve got this whole program of events with guest speakers who really know their stuff. I’ve been to three talks so far and haven’t fallen asleep once, which is honestly my highest form of praise.

So next week I’m officially signing up. Actual membership papers and everything. Who knows, maybe in a few months I’ll even work up the courage to bring in some of my Night Sky Pi photos without dying of embarrassment. Baby steps.