Astronomy buffs take a long view of hobby

Peering up from the viewfinder on his telescope, Jerry Eber’s face reflects all the zest and excitement contained in the younger crowd around him.

With a backdrop of mingling parents and curious children investigating a variety of themed booths in the library and gym at Sunrise Elementary School’s Community Presenters Night, Eber and several other energized Spokane Astronomical Society members chatted with visitors to their astronomy-laden stand.

“Science is for everyone,” said Vonne Thurman, who is finishing her one-year term as the society’s president. “I really think that astronomy is for everyone.”

The Spokane Astronomical Society has been a city institution since 1932, when, rumor has it, a group of guys started making telescopes in a garage. Since then, it has attracted members from all walks of life, transcended generations and hooked people of all ages.

“It’s open to anybody,” said Mary Singer, a 14-year member and the society’s spokeswoman. “It is a great family activity.”

Singer, who became involved more than a decade ago to boost her now 25-year-old son’s science grades in middle school, describes her adoration for all things celestial in slightly different terms than some of the other members.

“If you are looking up, you can dream about it,” she said. For example, a recently found extrasolar planet – a planet that orbits a star in a solar system outside our own – was the object in the sights of Singer’s telescope one night as she scoured the night sky.

“I waved because it’s a star like our own; you never know what’s out there,” she joked.

Singer’s son, Dan, an Army lieutenant who recently left for Iraq, has been able to use his astronomy experience in unexpected ways. As part of his Army training, “he gave everyone a lesson out there in the field” in star navigation, said Singer, beaming about her son.

With astronomy, “he finally could see a use for science and algebra,” Singer said. Included in her son’s limited amount of luggage headed to the Middle East is a telescope.

“He may have to paint it camo,” Singer joked.

The splendor that the nighttime sky provides draws a certain audience in Spokane.

“You don’t have to know a lot about astronomy to go to a meeting because someone else there will,” Thurman said. “It definitely rubs off on you.”

Currently there are more than 90 members in the society who have paid the $25 annual fee. That memership number, roughly estimated because families and couples can pay one annual fee for multiple-member use, has gone up and down over the years.

At one point there were as many as 150 in the society, Thurman said. Member benefits include access to the astronomy society’s library of information, and they can rent telescopes for one month.

While the telescope may be the heart of a good night’s observations, the instruments often are the centerpieces for some great and unforgettable gatherings.

The Spokane Astronomical Society’s annual Star Gaze party in September always draws a large crowd, while many members brave the various seasonal elements at their monthly get-togethers just off the Fishtrap exit on I-90 west of Spokane.

“There is nothing like hands-on learning under the stars,” Singer said.

Indeed, not much can stop some of the group’s members from a viewing when a unique and, perhaps, once-in-a-lifetime event is set to transpire. Not even some of the worst Mother Nature has to offer.

The 8 degrees below zero temperature in mid-January? Not enough to stop some in the group when the recent Comet McNaught appeared on the horizon.

More often than not, the only thing that keeps the group inside is a veil of clouds obscuring the sky. Even then there are the monthly indoor meetings, where the society welcomes distinguished guests and covers topics ranging from NASA missions to meteorology.

“The meeting’s topics are all over the map,” Singer said, and they are free and open to the public.

For amateur astronomers looking to get started or just wanting to dabble now and again, members of the club recommend a simple set of binoculars.

“It is like any hobby; you put into it what you want to get out of it,” said Eber, who has put in eight years with the society.

And, Thurman added, “You can do a lot of astronomy with a regular set of 10-by-50 binoculars.”