Saturday, June 4th, turned out to be a great night for area stargazers as the clouds cleared and the winds calmed. The Crossroads Astronomy Club from Victoria chose Seadrift Texas again as its star party location. Seadrift known for its dark skys lacking the light pollution of the bigger citys and its beautiful bayfront makes it a great location to set up a telescope for a night of observations.

The night’s targets for observing was the planet Saturn as it could be seen in all its beauty. Its rings shining bright and even casting a shadow across the planet. The moons of Saturn could clearly be seen. Other targets included the “Ring Nebula” M57 and is located in the constellation Lyra. M57 is called a “planetary nebula” by astronomers but is actually a dead star.It was discovered in 1779.

Ring Nebula

Also observed was the galaxy M104 “ Sombrero Galaxy” in the constellation “Virgo” discovered in 1767 by Pierre Mechain, The galaxy is located about 30 million light years away in the southern edge of Virgo.

Sombrero Galaxy

As many locals stopped to look at the large assortment of telescopes, some even returned after dark to view the celestial wonders of the heavens. Many were left speechless and many gasped, “Oh my god! I can’t believe I am looking at this!” The sights they saw most people on earth will never get to see with their own eyes.

Crossroads Astronomy Club meets at the University of Houston at Victoria, West Building, Room 233, at 7:00 p.m. every third Monday. For more information, call 361-648.0089.

front, left to right: Maryann Presiado, Janet Hallmark, Bart Rodriguez, Ziomara and Natalie Hunt rear, left to right: Harold Ratliff, David Blombert -Club President, KB Hallmark, Wesley Hunt, Kelly Hawes, David Pozzi back: Larry Kelley