Hi everyone,

There is an old joke, about a man who was having his hands operated on.
Before the surgery, he asked the doctor if, once the surgery was completed,
he'd be able to play the piano. The doctor assured him that, indeed, he
would. "Oh, thank you!!" the man replied, "I've never been able to play the
piano before!"

I've never been able to play the piano either, other than a bit of
"clunking" here and there.

Meanwhile . . .

Those of you who know me personally know that I am nearsighted, and that I
wear glasses -- in fact, I've had to wear glasses since I was 10. I am
extremely nearsighted (20/400 or thereabouts) in my right eye (my "observing
eye") and somewhat nearsighted (somewhere around 20/50) in my left eye. Both
eyes have been correctable to 20/20 and I don't have any other vision
problems (e.g., astigmatism, etc.).

This is not a situation that I'm happy with, and I would prefer not to have
to wear glasses, but on the other hand it's a situation I've accepted, and I
came to terms with it a long time ago.

And when it comes to visual observing through a telescope, nearsightedness
doesn't matter; all one has to do is adjust the focus accordingly.


Within the past several months I've noticed a distinct deterioration in the
vision in my right eye. Even the 20/400 correction of my eyeglasses only
offered a marginal improvement over my uncorrected vision in that eye.
Furthermore, when looking through a telescope I found that no matter how I
adjusted the eyepiece I couldn't bring things to a sharp focus. The clincher
came one night a couple of months ago when I was observing Comet C/2005 L3:
14th magnitude, small and relatively condensed -- faint, but normally not
all that difficult in the 41 cm scope. It was nevertheless all I could do
just to tell that "something" was "there." But when I looked through the
eyepiece with my left eye -- which felt about as awkward as trying to write
with my left hand -- I could bring things to a sharp focus and see the comet
without much difficulty. I then examined some star clusters (M11, etc.) and
detected a huge difference in what I could see between the two eyes.

I made an appointment with my optometrist (fortunately there was a
cancellation, and I got to see him within a couple of days). The verdict: I
have cataracts -- in *both* eyes, although significantly more severe in my
right eye. It strikes me a bit strange to have this happen to someone of my
age (I'm 49, and otherwise in excellent health) and I don't seem to have any
of the health issues, or to have experienced any of the "stimulating"
events, associated with cataracts -- but on the other hand, the eye surgeon
I'm now seeing tells me that I'm definitely not the youngest person he has
seen with this problem.

Since then, of course, I've been doing all my observing with my left eye
(and it doesn't quite seem so awkward anymore). Meanwhile, I'm scheduled for
surgery next Tuesday (September 4) to have the cataract removed, and a new
lens implanted, in my right eye. I'll have the same thing done to my left
eye sometime later (probably in a few months).

I can't really say I'm looking forward to the surgery itself (although I've
heard it's relatively quick and painless). Everything I've read and heard,
though, from other astronomer types who have had this done is that it's one
of the best things that's ever happened to them, and that the improvement in
vision is utterly remarkable. Even more notable for me is that the lens
implant that will be put into my eye will be able to correct for and do away
with the nearsightedness I've been plagued with all these years.

I still won't be able to play the piano :) and I've been told that I might
have to wear reading glasses (something I've not had to do before). And
since the eyes have a tendency to undergo changes the longer we hong around,
I'll probably still have to visit my optometrist from time to time. But:
when this is all over it appears that I'll have better vision than I've ever
had in my life -- and I'm definitely looking forward to that.

I've got 90 more comets to go until 500 -- and hopefully a lot more after
that. I've also got a lot of other things I'd like to see, and do, in this
life while I'm here, and at the very least it looks like I'll have the eyes
to help me do them. And who knows, maybe I'll even learn to play the piano
someday after all . . .

In any event, though, I'll let you all know how things go.


Sincerely,

Alan