My dear Galileo,

After many years of observing and investigating things on the Earth, I have taken it into my mind also now to begin looking at the heavens to learn what is to be seen there as well. As I am but a novice in this, I knew I must find a teacher. I hope you will not mind if I look to you and your discoveries as such.

Since you left your corporeal existence, there has been formed a group of astronomers taking as their name The Astronomical League, and in your honor they have a course of study in your most well known celestial observations. It is this course that I intend to follow, to try to repeat some of the observations that you made in hope of establishing my astronomical education by standing on the shoulders of the giant that you were.

Of course, I could not claim to be repeating your observations if I was using one of the powerful modern telescopes that are available today! Your first telescopes yielded a magnification of a modest 8x, and the strongest of them a moderate 20x. Were I to employ anything stronger it would not provide me with a view at all similar to the one you saw. Therefore I have obtained a Celestron Inspire 70AZ refracting telescope and a Celestron Omni 40mm eyepiece, which together provide a magnification of 17.5x (the telescope has a 700mm focal length and the eyepiece 40mm; division of the former by the later yielding 17.5). I also quite like the name of this telescope, Inspire, as it is by your example that I am inspired to discover more about the night sky myself.

I hope that you will not mind that I intend to keep you updated on my activities and progress in this endeavor. While I do not, of course, expect a reply, I do think it will help me to distill my observations, questions, and ideas into something eventually useful and by such enlarge my understanding – however modestly – of the subject of astronomy.

With greatest respect,

Johannes