Patrick Wiggins easily recalls the first time he encountered another planet. He was about 8, living in Ohio, and his mother took him to visit a friend who owned a telescope.
Floating in the eyepiece was one of the most beautiful views in the solar system, the ringed planet Saturn. "I was really hooked," he recalls.
But the story has an ironic twist: "The look through the telescope was so great that my mother decided to get me a telescope — and it was a piece of junk. And it killed my interest."
Fortunately for Utah's amateur astronomers, his interest was revived by the Tulsa, Okla., Astronomy Association in 1974, during the flurry of interest about Comet Kohoutek.
Today Wiggins is Utah's "Mr. Astronomy," tirelessly promoting the pastime of comet-, planet-, asteroid-, galaxy-, meteorite-, nebula- and star-gazing. A member of the education staff at Hansen Planetarium, 15 S. State, he has just celebrated his 25th year at the facility.
Astronomy is more than an enjoyable hobby for Wiggins. Besides the work he does at Hansen Planetarium, he serves as secretary/treasurer of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, keeps in touch with an army of amateurs and carries out original research at a sophisticated home observatory with his wife, Holly Phaneuf.
The two are the likely discoverers of a pair of asteroids. The objects are soon to
emerge from the sun's glare, and when they have tracked them for another year, long enough to positively determine orbits and prove that they are previously unknown, Wiggins and Phaneuf will be allowed to name them.
Through the years, he has observed five total solar eclipses and a host of other beautiful celestial sights. Few were as dramatic as the impact of Comet Shoemaker Levy-9 onto Jupiter. Wiggins set up telescopes on the planetarium's steps so the public could enjoy the spectacle.
Wiggins was born in Ogden 51 years ago, but he and his mother soon moved to Elko, Nev. She remarried an Ohio resident, and the family lived in Ohio until Wiggins was 18.
A highlight of his years at Worthington, Ohio, High School, was the day the NASA van arrived. "Of all the assemblies coming to our school . . . that's the only one I remember," he said.
After graduating from high school, he returned to Elko for a year or two, then enlisted in the Air Force. It was the start of a 26-year career (including the Reserves) that took him to stations around the world and duty in Vietnam. "Proud Vietnam vet here," Wiggins noted.
He went through civilian flight training in Oklahoma, then landed jobs in Utah flying airplanes. "A lot of people still remember that I flew the KSL Air Alert plane for several years," he said. He was a backup pilot and traffic announcer.
During a stint as a charter pilot and flying a sky-diving plane in Tooele, he joined the Salt Lake Astronomical Society. He was intrigued by Hansen Planetarium, where the group holds its monthly meetings, and "applied at the planetarium when the sky-diving job gave out."
After waiting a reasonable length of time, he inquired about his application, "and they told me they lost my application," he said. Wiggins reapplied, and his persistence paid off.
On Nov. 18, 1975, he began working at the planetarium as a part-time usher for star shows. Actually, he was so eager for the job that he tried to start one day earlier, "but they sent me home, said, 'No, come back tomorrow.' "
Within a week he was helping in the business office, and soon then-director Mark Littmann hired him full time.
Wiggins has worked as assistant business manager and in the publications department, which produces the planetarium's calendars and posters. He has worked on producing star shows. He regularly hosts the shows.
About 1984 he transferred into the education department. He enjoys working there, especially in the outreach program, in which planetarium personnel drive the Astrovan to schools throughout the state. He has spoken before tens of thousands of students, teaching them about rocketry, computers, robotics, NASA discoveries, Newton's three laws and, of course, the wonders of the universe.
Utah has 40 school districts, he says, and "if I haven't made it to all the districts, it's been very close."
Some of the most rewarding trips are to remote schools where the student body is smaller than some families. "Incredibly appreciative" pupils will sit around in a circle and talk about science.
During the day, Wiggins will set up a telescope equipped with a solar filter so that they can safely observe the sun and its sunspots. "If we can stick around in the evening, we'll show them what's going on in the sky at night."
He keeps in close contact with the media, alerting science writers to astronomical events. Wiggins makes regular radio appearances, and whenever something fascinating is brewing in space, he's sure to be asked by local TV stations to comment.
One of his jobs at the planetarium unexpectedly extended into his personal life.
Wiggins records the free Starline information service, news about the night sky that anyone can access by dialing 532-STAR. When Phaneuf moved to Utah from the East, she "happened to call the Starline because she had an interest in astronomy."
She like the voice of the man on the line and decided she wanted to meet him. She attended a meeting of the Salt Lake Astronomical Society, hoping to meet the person with that friendly voice.
Two years later to the day, Wiggins and Phaneuf were married under the dome of Hansen Planetarium. Today, his beloved "Dr. Holly," whose Ph.D. is in chemistry, teaches full-time at Salt Lake Community College.
How does Wiggins explain his fascination with the sky?
"I was born with it, as people are born with other interests," he says. "Personally, sports haven't done that much for me, except sky diving. . . . My passion has always been astronomy."
Wiggins is Hansen Planetarium's senior employee, and only one retired employee served longer. He may beat even that record, as he says, "I really have no desire to leave this place, ever."
E-MAIL: bau@desnews.com