I was recently reminded of the time that I rented a 36ft, motor coach for a What's a Girl to Do? adventure back in 2002 to go to the 11th Riverside Telescope Makers Conference in Borrego Springs, California.
I was gung-ho to go as I've always been interested in the night sky. Scared as hell to drive such a monster but knew I could do it after the rental place put me through a lengthy course of how to drive, set up and enjoy the "diesel pusher."
Once on the road to go home and collect my dog Cody (a big hound dog I adopted), I loved looking down on buses - cars were like ants. I wasn't afraid of a collision as my rig was bigger and badder.
As I pulled up to my house, the neighbors came out in droves to find out what was going on. One neighbor said, "Let's go to Vegas!"
Shaking my head, I kicked him to the curb. "I'm spending the weekend with the stars!"
I brought Cody out to his new (temporary) home on wheels and he settled right in on the couch, while I brought out what we needed for the weekend.
With a tank full of diesel Cody and I headed toward our destination. Once at the resort, the biggest obstacle was to park the beast. Backing it into the campsite! While a dozen guys across the way, surrounded by telescopes, watched.
Taking a deep breath, I parked it like a pro. On the first try!
Later I did need help to hook everything up and deal with the slide outs, while everyone fawned over Cody.
Once settled, I met the former president of OC Astronomers, Helen Mahoney, and I confessed that I didn't have a telescope. "No problem," she said, "Just wait for nightfall. Everyone will share the view."
While waiting, Cody and I explored the impressive collection of telescopes; most had arrived by truck or trailer. As we maneuvered through the forest of tubes I kept hearing, "How big is yours?" If I hadn't known they were talking about telescope mirrors and lenses, I would have blushed.
One man from the Las Vegas Astronomical Society had a prize winner - a 20 inch, f/5 Newtonian (a type of telescope with a fast focal ratio that's ideal for wide-field views of the night sky and deep space objects.) To see through the eyepiece he had to climb an 8-foot ladder.
At sunset, the astronomers began their observations. The then president of RTMC, explained that with the advent of computers, celestial navigation had become relatively easy. Using software such as TheSky, with a click of the mouse, telescopes could be programmed to find distant galaxies and other objects visible to the naked eye. Distant galaxies!
My first observation was of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy (closest major galaxy to the Milky Way). "I'm trying to relate this to Star Trek," I said to Mahoney.
"The Enterprise traveled only in our galaxy," she said (except for three episodes). "What you're seeing is 2.4 million light years from Earth." When I didn't respond, Mahoney added, "It happened 2.4 million years ago."
I was star struck, and speechless.
Cody and I moved on, traversing the area with the aid of a flashlight covered in red cellophane (white light ruins night vision), visiting dozens of telescopes and seeing the universe with new eyes. One man put my feelings into words. "In a turbulent and uncertain world, the eternity of the night sky is incredibly comforting."
The following evening, at nightfall, the scene once again turned surreal. Red lights dotted the landscape. People huddled around computer screens masked in red. Telescope motors whirred.
At 3 a.m., Ralph Megna of the Riverside Astronomical Society showed me Saturn through his 10-inch telescope and after sitting for a while I was able to see the amazing Cassini's Division, the dark rift separating Saturn's two bright outer rings. Then I observed a sight so spectacular all I could mumble was "Wow-w-w."
Quiet laughter punctuated the darkness. "She must be looking at the Orion Nebula."
They knew. They too had seen the four new stars shining brilliantly out of the enormous luminescent swirl of cosmic gas.
Moments before sunrise, Cody and I stumbled back to our cozy home on wheels. Later that morning, woman and dog emerged blurry-eyed and still starry-eyed - reluctant to leave the desert and Orion behind.
What's a girl to do?…I'm going to find out where another telescope makers conference is and see if my little VW bug could get me there, AND if I could stay awake two nights in a row. That's the bet.
Lucy Llewellyn Byard is currently a columnist for the Record-Bee. To contact her, email lucywgtd@gmail.com
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