Win Plan: You Don’t Always Make Big Plays in a Stargazing Game

Even the best baseball players have to struggle slumps – periods when they underperform and nothing can change it. Hitters stop sending the ball beyond the field. This period of underperformance can be caused by a plethora of reasons including injuries, extreme exhaustion or depression. When this period comes, players start “pressing”. This means they try too hard making obvious mistakes and often swing at apparently bad pitches.

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Entering this reluctant try-hard mode is a mistake. Sometimes, we astronomers also suffer from trying too hard. There were nights when I stayed up all night to make some progress. This pressure slowly built up. Every new night spent at my eyepiece wore down my eyes, but I didn’t feel it consumed by enthusiasm. My reaction and attention would become too sloppy and my progress would stagnate to a point where I would simply be not able to find anything in the sky.

When such moments came I would always say that I can continue. I would make a short pause, make myself a nice hot cup of coffee, and have a snack. In moments like that, my eyes were closing and my senses became blunt, but I could not resist the urge to look in the clear darkness above. When nights are so peaceful and every star can be seen in the sky, one believes that the opportunity like this should not be missed.

I would look for Messier 12 slowly observing Ophiuchus. Finally, my eye would catch this bright star. Such exercises took way too much time. I consumed incalculable cups of coffee filling my organism with caffeine and illusionary energy. After another short break I would start searching for a nebula. Sometimes, I didn’t find it all and just like a slumping hitter I changed my eyepiece, expanded the field of view or blamed filters. After a couple of missed “swings”, I would start looking everywhere losing my sense of time and failing to succeed. “Why has it become so hard?” I asked myself in such moments.

I rested a bit, walked slowly back and forth, and returned to my eyepiece. I didn’t even notice that I was exhausted and tired. I was making various mistakes: dropping down my cup of coffee, letting filters slip through my fingers or stumble over equipment. I turned my whole working area into a mess.

I felt like a baseball hitter who completely lost his game sense. While the pitches were simple, I was swinging left and right without looking at the pitcher. This was a moment for me to press unaware of my temporary slump. I simply didn’t think that it was time to put down my equipment and let myself rest without thinking of time wasted.

It doesn’t matter how good you are at the game. It doesn’t matter how good the conditions are. The only thing you need to understand is that sometimes you won’t have enough energy to last the whole night. Don’t try too hard. Remember that our life is full of beautiful clear nights and an opportunity will surely come!