Astronomy club sees beauty in the heavens

By Jeff Pope

Monday, Jan. 19, 2009 | 12:12 a.m.

The one word heard most often while gazing into a telescope is "wow."

"It's pretty much the only word you can think of when you realize you're looking at something 2.5 million light years away," said Dan Ianke, an amateur astronomer with the Las Vegas Astronomical Society.

Since forming in 1980, the society has provided thousands of valley residents with "wow" moments through educational programs and informal gatherings known as star parties where anyone can use high-powered telescopes to see planets, nebulae and galaxies.

For David Blanchette, the club's educational outreach coordinator, his moment came when he was about 10 years old and set his new telescope on the first star he saw. Under magnification, that dot of light in the dusk turned

out to be Saturn.

"That's when I was completely hooked. I had no idea what I was looking at when I looked in the sky but I knew it when I saw it in the scope," said Blanchette, 52. "Big beautiful rings and, boy, I was hooked on astronomy."

This year is of special importance to astronomers because 400 years ago, Galileo used the first telescope and discovered three moons of Jupiter.

While the International Astronomical Union, United Nations and NASA celebrate 2009 as the "International Year of Astronomy," members of the Las Vegas Astronomical Society invite stargazers to explore the local skies with them each month.

The club holds monthly star parties free for the public to take a closer look at the extraterrestrial and man-made objects. The events also include a lecture on a celestial event or object and instruction on using telescopes and star charts.

During the Saturday party at Red Rock Canyon, stargazers also spied the International Space Station as it moved through the night sky. Orbiting 250 miles above the surface, the station appeared as a solid red dot moving swiftly from the west and passing by Venus.

About a dozen telescopes, ranging in power and sophistication, aimed skyward for any of the more than 60 stargazers to use.

Star party guests don't need their own telescopes and Blanchette said it's best for enthusiasts to attend a few parties and talk to club members before investing a few hundred dollars in a scope.

"The party is the public's opportunity to come see the stars but also to learn –— to learn about the stars, to learn about telescopes, to learn about the club," he said.

The club appeals to west valley resident Eric Hintz, 51, whose "wow" moment also was seeing Saturn's rings for the first time as a boy. "It's just the joy and amazement of the night sky," he said. "It's incredible."