I remember my dad telling me about the probe Giotto that was going to intercept Halleys Comet. We stayed up till the early hours. I think it was 2 am or something, way past my bedtime but i was loving it!
I used to see meteors and sattelites in the night sky while holding a light on some part of the engine bay of his mark 2 escort too. Quite often my stargazing would be interrupted by a request for more light on the carburettor or something!
My first and only (for now) telescope was also a 60mm refractor, which i still have and i managed to see the rings of saturn on a frosty january night. Boy did that knock my socks off. And the moon, man i could stare at her all night!
Then i got into photography and took photos of Hyakutake and Hale Bopp (i think, i'm not sure, about 1995??) with some ilford 3200 iso film.
I'll always love stargazing and i hope to impart this love of it to my sons.