UPDATE:  SOLVED!

By Rob at 12:30 CDT

Ah, another Saturday; another riddle.  I have something nice for you to ponder today.

You remember the rules, right?  Don’t forget after you solve the riddle to hang around long enough to give me your choice of subject for my next blog post.

Are you ready?  Okay… without further ado:

telescopes

This is a single object, but it is not one of a kind.

There has been a great deal written about this object, in works of both fact and fiction.

It is visible to the naked eye.

This object had a violent beginning.

Mt St Helens  USGS

It was well-known to prehistoric man.

The more we know about this object, the more mysterious and interesting it becomes.

You know a lot about this object; you’ve been learning about it your whole life.

Do you know what it is?

I’m in the comment section, so pop over and tell me what you think.