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Geneva, IL —
When the sun goes down and the stars are revealed, Chris Winkler of Geneva and his children become American pioneers.
He and his young son and daughter point their Dobsonian telescope toward the North Star — or Polaris — and lock it in with their viewfinder.
From there, the family can locate any known object in the night sky using star maps and possibly uncover new stars, galaxies or even unknown worlds.
“It’s such an exciting thing to be a part of,” said Winkler, who’s 40. “It’s great for families.”
Anyone can look at a picture of a planet, galaxy or even the moon and be impressed. But for amateur astronomers such as Winkler, it’s about the amazement of seeing another world live through a lens and coming to a greater understanding of the universe.
Polaris is the only night object in the Northern Hemisphere that never moves from its position in the sky, so polar alignment is one of the first techniques amateur astronomers such as Winkler learn.
But with so much to master in the stars, Winkler decided to enlist the expertise of other local astronomers and joined the growing Fox Valley Astronomical Society about a year ago.
“They’re very helpful,” Winkler said. “They are incredibly open to helping families. ... These guys are very big into education.”
And with NASA ending the shuttle program and annual budget cut threats at Fermilab, FVAS member Bruce Abels believes astronomical physics at the grassroots level is even more important.
“Amateur astronomers discover something new every year,” he said.
Like minds
The FVAS was formed in 1944, but had sporadic membership until two years ago, which was before West Chicago resident and former math teacher Abels joined the group and was tasked with increasing membership.
In two years, Abels helped increase the club’s size from 13 members to 35 who each pay $25 a year for themselves or their families.
Part of the reason for the increased popularity of the FVAS might be its public star parties, which are held one Saturday per month during the spring, summer and fall at Geneva’s Peck Farm Park.
Star parties are outdoor events where astronomers of all levels of expertise set up telescopes and locate objects in the sky. During these events, Abels gets kids excited with models of spacecrafts and presentations about astronomical events and NASA activities. The Geneva Park District turns off lights in the park and the parking lot to minimize light pollution for the astronomers.
When the sun goes down and the stars are revealed, Chris Winkler of Geneva and his children become American pioneers.
He and his young son and daughter point their Dobsonian telescope toward the North Star — or Polaris — and lock it in with their viewfinder.
From there, the family can locate any known object in the night sky using star maps and possibly uncover new stars, galaxies or even unknown worlds.
“It’s such an exciting thing to be a part of,” said Winkler, who’s 40. “It’s great for families.”
Anyone can look at a picture of a planet, galaxy or even the moon and be impressed. But for amateur astronomers such as Winkler, it’s about the amazement of seeing another world live through a lens and coming to a greater understanding of the universe.
Polaris is the only night object in the Northern Hemisphere that never moves from its position in the sky, so polar alignment is one of the first techniques amateur astronomers such as Winkler learn.
But with so much to master in the stars, Winkler decided to enlist the expertise of other local astronomers and joined the growing Fox Valley Astronomical Society about a year ago.
“They’re very helpful,” Winkler said. “They are incredibly open to helping families. ... These guys are very big into education.”
And with NASA ending the shuttle program and annual budget cut threats at Fermilab, FVAS member Bruce Abels believes astronomical physics at the grassroots level is even more important.
“Amateur astronomers discover something new every year,” he said.
Like minds
The FVAS was formed in 1944, but had sporadic membership until two years ago, which was before West Chicago resident and former math teacher Abels joined the group and was tasked with increasing membership.
In two years, Abels helped increase the club’s size from 13 members to 35 who each pay $25 a year for themselves or their families.
Part of the reason for the increased popularity of the FVAS might be its public star parties, which are held one Saturday per month during the spring, summer and fall at Geneva’s Peck Farm Park.
Star parties are outdoor events where astronomers of all levels of expertise set up telescopes and locate objects in the sky. During these events, Abels gets kids excited with models of spacecrafts and presentations about astronomical events and NASA activities. The Geneva Park District turns off lights in the park and the parking lot to minimize light pollution for the astronomers.
Abels said part of FVAS’s mission is educating the public about light pollution to help increase political will and encourage local leaders to invest in technology that helps keep city lights from shining upward.
Light pollution hides many night objects for astronomers and can be just as bad as having a cloudy night in some areas. Astronomers believe everyone could appreciate being able to see more stars on clear nights — even in cities.
Winkler believes more communities should make an effort to install all LED lighting which has lower power consumption and reduces light pollution in the sky.
“It obviously is a sign of significant energy wasted for unnecessary lighting, most of which is standard incadescent lighting in strip malls, office parks and residential exterior lighting which mostly shines upwards or in all directions instead of downward,” Winkler said.
Another part of FVAS’s mission is to get people — especially children — interested in astronomy and create future leaders of exploration.
“If you’re into learning something new and exciting, this is it because everything is new,” Abels said. “There’s new stuff to be discovered every day.”
The next star party is Saturday and Abels will present a discussion topic before the sky observations called “Surely, you can’t be Ceres.”
Ceres is the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
During his presentation, Abels will talk about the current NASA mission to send a craft to Ceres.
A growing passion
The more Winkler learns about astronomy, the more time he devotes to the practice, especially during long, clear nights.
“I’m absorbing as much information as I can,” he said. “It’s a learning curve. You have to be willing to go out and spend some time with this.”
One of the most important lessons a beginner can learn, Winkler said, is to not use cheap, department store toy telescopes. He said they tend to only lead to frustrations for anyone who’s serious about exploring the night sky.
“I think a lot of people get shied away from that,” Winkler said.
He said beginners are better off with a good pair of binoculars.
Winkler said people should go to a specialty shop for a good telescope, startup costs can range anywhere between $600 and $15,000 for astronomers. But there are ways around the cost issue, Winkler said, such as buying used telescopes from members of astronomy clubs looking to upgrade their equipment.
But the costs are worth the rewards for astronomers such as Winkler.
“I saw the Milky Way two Sundays ago,” he said. “It was unbelievable.”
