Saturn is the gateway planet of the Houston skies. Sometimes all it takes is a single exposure, just one look through a telescope at the bright light with its rings and moons, to lure the vulnerable.
From Saturn, it's on to Mars. And the next thing you know, the unsuspecting will be hooked into a lifetime of searching the night skies for galaxies, nebulae, clusters and shiny objects listed in catalogs created by those whose lives took a similar turn hundreds of years ago.
"Saturn will do it to you," said Connie Haviland of Pearland. "I saw the rings of Saturn and I went, 'Whoa,' and it got me started."
Haviland now shares the hobby with her husband, David, president of the Johnson Space Center Astronomical Society, and just about anyone else interested enough to look through her telescope.
On a recent Wednesday evening, the Havilands were on the grounds of the Universities Space Research Association campus in Clear Lake with three members of the society in the hopes of drawing in children.
This particular crowd was an easy mark. The group of 5- to 15-year-old smart kids had been organized by Texas Parents of the Profoundly Gifted and was gathered for a lecture on black holes. For most, it wouldn't be their first celestial rodeo.
But just as the telescopes, some homemade and others operated by intricate computer systems, were set up, the clouds rolled in and covered the skies.
Kids didn't see stars, and the grown-ups missed out on a chance to show a bit of the universe to an enthusiastic crowd.
But then, most audiences are enthusiastic, David Haviland said. The sense of awe keeps many an amateur astronomer interested in lugging out the heavy equipment in the hopes of initiating newcomers.
"If it is a good scope and it is crisp and clear, you can just hear the jaws drop," he said.
Despite the refineries, strip centers, homes and businesses that pollute the darkness of the night sky, thousands of local amateur astronomers set up telescopes in green patches around the city for "star parties," a mixture of social gathering and intellectual exchange.
Many are informal affairs such as the neighborhood ones hosted by Ken Fraley. He's just a guy with an 8-inch reflecting telescope who periodically sends out an invitation on the Woodland Heights' Internet bulletin board. Neighbors, dog walkers, joggers and children in PJs making a final stop before bedtime arrive on the Norhill Esplanade to get a closer look at the skies.
Others are mostly for amateur astronomy clubs, including the Houston Astronomical Society and the North Houston and Fort Bend Astronomy clubs.
Sunday, one of the largest in the country, The Texas Star Party, kicks off in West Texas near Fort Davis. The annual festival of amateur stargazers draws crowds from around the world. For astronomers from the Houston area, the week offers skies unblemished by the ever-expanding intrusion of urban light.
"The pollution from the city lights limits what you can see here," said Johnson Space society member Jim Cate, who will take his 16-inch telescope to West Texas for the star party next week. "You can see the planets. Out there it is a world of difference. The sky is filled with stars."
The Houston Astronomical Society, for example, offers "star parties" for schools and other educational programs close to home. About four times a year, the society holds parties for members and guests at a spot in Columbus where the skies are not as polluted, said Bill Flanagan, the society treasurer.
"In the city it is kind of limited in the things you can do," he said. "You can look at the moon and the planets, which are interesting, but the light blocks out the deep sky things like the galaxies."
An oasis closer to home is Brazos Bend State Park and its George Observatory, where the night sky still offers astronomers a good view of the stars. The observatory, part of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, boasts a 36-inch research telescope that can take the amateur eye deep into the sky on Saturday nights, when it is open to the public, said manager Barbara Wilson.
On those nights, volunteers from the Fort Bend Astronomy Club also set up smaller telescopes on the outdoor observation deck and let the public take a peek.
Dennis Borgman, for example, gives lunar tours from his telescope, pointing out craters, fault lines and the location of the Apollo landings.
"Most people have been looking at the moon for most of their lives," he said. "You point out something new to them and you see a smile on their faces."
For many a stargazer, the interest was sparked in childhood. For some, it was a first look at Saturn, or in Wilson's case, Mars. David Haviland remembers being fascinated by the Apollo missions and especially the first moon landing as a child, though he received his first telescope as a gift when he was an adult. Others were introduced in scouting or school programs.
First inspiration launched an adult interest that grew with every new star cluster discovered or galaxy observed, amateurs said. But the passion for the hobby is fueled by a recognition that looking into the night sky is a way of observing millions of years of history. It is also a continued sense of wonder, Cate said.
"To me it is part of creation," he said. "It is part of what is out there. There is a lot of science involved and there is a lot of mystery involved. It is just mysterious and beautiful."
And fun.
That's part of the reason Fraley periodically drags his telescope onto the Norhill Esplanade to share the view. On a recent evening, even without the official invitation, the telescope drew an impromptu crowd of neighbors, many of them Fraley's regulars.
As the skies turned from dark blue to night, Fraley pointed his telescope directly at Saturn and watched as the line formed to look in the viewer. Repeated expressions of amazement followed.
Said Michael Brewster, for one, "I've never seen anything like that in my life."
Original Source : http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5804182.html
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