Muserology Cafe

How David Levy (Almost) Ate My Birthday Cake (January 2012)

by Holly Ayles, age 14, New Brunswick, Canada

it all started as a school project. We had to do a research report for our heritage fair, and I chose to do my report on William Brydone Jack, one of the first Canadian astronomers. He built an observatory that is now one of the oldest observatories still standing in Canada. This observatory is on the local university campus, which happened to be where the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) was hosting its annual meeting that year. One of the activities at the meeting would be a tour of the observatory. As a youth member of the RASC, I was asked to help with the tours. I love astronomy, so obviously I agreed.

The meeting would last from July 1 to July 4. Once we'd finished setting up, the other volunteers and I checked in and received our nametags, which doubled as our tickets to events. We were there to have fun too!

Soon, participants started to show up. My dad was the head of transportation to and from airports and bus stations, so we made an awful lot of trips to pick people up that week, but I didn't mind it. I met quite a few very nice, intelligent people and had some great conversations about astronomy (duh!). It was fun to put faces to the names I had seen on paper for so long. 

The registration period flew by, and suddenly it was time for my first observatory tour. The observatory is very small with just two floors, each about the size of my bedroom, but impressive for the time it was built. 

The most exciting part (almost) happened during my fourth tour. It was my birthday, and Don, a retired science teacher who was leading the tours, had bought a cake to celebrate and share with the tour group. It was during that tour that David Levy, a famous astronomer who has discovered many comets and asteroids, stopped by to see the telescope. David Levy is something of a superstar (put intended) in the astronomy world and was basically the guest of honor at this event. When he came in, Don offered him some of my birthday cake. I could already hear myself bragging to my fellow-geek friends, "David Levy ate my birthday cake!" But David was running late and had to dash out before he could have any. I was a little disappointed, to say the least. I figured that would be my only chance to meet him during the week. Was I ever wrong...

The next day was full of paper sessions, some of which were so confusing I didn't even understand the topic, and some of which were quite interesting. One of my favorites was a local school group that talked about the astronomy club they had started. It was great to see a teacher and his students so involved in learning about astronomy. 

As my father and I lined up to get dinner, you won't believe who got in line behind me--David Levy! I was star-struck (again, pun intended). As a budding astronomer who hopes to someday work for NASA, I was thrilled to meet a famous astronomer. He said hello to my father and me, and I'm not even sure if I squeaked so much as a "Hi" back--another opportunity wasted. 

Soon, I was making my way toward one of the two tables at the front of the room designated for volunteers. I sat down with my dad at an empty table. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed David Levy making his way through the crowd. He approached my table and pointed to the chair next to me. "Can I sit here?" he asked. Could he sit there?! What kind of a question was that? It didn't matter that this was the volunteer table, or that my dad had told me to save that seat for his friend. Of course he could sit there! Still in disbelief, I managed a quiet "Yes." He introduced himself to me (as if that was necessary), and we started chatting.

Of course, as soon as people noticed where David Levy was sitting, our table filled up pretty fast. The group spent the evening trading stories about our astronomy observations and what we saw for the future of astronomy and space travel. Later, my dad told me David probably sat with us because he was surprised to see someone so young there and wanted to hear what I had to say. 

During lunch the next day, David Levy gave a talk about his experiences in astronomy and life in general. He also spoke about the future. Toward the end of his talk, he asked anyone in the room under the age of 20 to stand. I stood, along with the astronomy school group I mentioned earlier. He explained that this talk was mainly for us: for the youth, for the young people who are the future of science. 

Sadly, that week had to come to a close. Soon, everyone was packing their bags, and we were driving people back to the airport. I said my goodbyes to the new friends I had made that week, including David Levy. Even if he didn't eat my birthday cake, I think I might still be able to find something to brag about to my friends.