It was so dark that I could barely see how to park my car there on the bay front; I could not see the faces of those gathered around the big telescopes set up on Wesley Hunt’s driveway. Wesley introduced me to his wife and to Kelly Hawes, but the others gathered around were just voices in the night, although I knew they must be members of the Crossroads Astronomy Club.

In contrast to the darkness around me, looking skyward I could see a myriad of lights bursting through the darkness. That beautiful sight can only be experienced by those of us who are privileged to live in places such as Seadrift where distracting artificial lights are still at a minimum.

Wesley had invited me to join them that evening (September 24th) to experience some of the sights in the night sky that are not visible to the naked eye. His telescope was pointed toward the Milky Way belt, which appeared as a sort of thin cloud spread almost vertically above the bay. The galaxy has this appearance because of the Earth’s position within the galactic plane, around two-thirds of the way out from the center. (I copied that last sentence from a web site, since I have no knowledge whatsoever of “the stars”, except what little I learned in elementary school.)

The first thing Wesley wanted to show me was a “globular cluster”. Wesley said these are “balls of a million stars not seen by eyes alone”. Before he could adjust the telescope, Kelly Parks used his telescope-binoculars to locate the position of the object we wanted to see (these binoculars were huge, weighing about 10 pounds), then a laser was used to pinpoint it, and the telescope was aimed at that point and adjusted.

The telescope is quite large and the eyepiece was on the side of it, near the top, which meant that in order to look through it I had to climb a little ladder, try to sit on the top step and look in the eyepiece, while not touching the main body of the telescope. This was quite a feat for a stiff-jointed older lady with a fear of heights! But with Wesley’s help, I managed. I was disappointed that I really could not see anything that looked to me like a “globular cluster” of stars. I would see something, then all would be black – the same trouble I always have when looking through binoculars.

Next, the telescope was pointed at a carbon star. I was told (if I understood correctly) that carbon stars burn and burn and never burn up. It was supposed to appear as a red dot, but I never saw a red dot, only a white one. Maybe that was due to something called the “Purkinje effect”. (Look it up.) But I don’t know. I was getting discouraged.

They say, “the third time’s the charm” and it really was. After some adjustments, the telescope was pointed toward the Andromeda Galaxy, the closest (2.9 million light-years) to our own. And I saw it! An elliptical blob of white, an inch or two in size – but actually a whole galaxy that’s even larger than ours.

Wesley said he is always fascinated to look at Andromeda and often wonders if maybe there is someone there looking back this way and wondering if there is any life here.

Thanks, Wesley, for this incredible experience. Even now, when I close my eyes, I can see the Andromeda Galaxy. I am reminded that, as Wesley’s father used to say, “My God’s power is beyond human comprehension.” The telescope is a tool to show that power. If you ever have an opportunity, I heartily recommend you take a look.

The Crossroads Astronomy Club meets the third Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the University of Houston at Victoria (3007 N. Ben Wilson), Room 223. For information, you may contact Wesley Hunt at 361-935-2016 or wes81461@yahoo.com.