The telescopes are arranged in a perfect row on concrete pads, their optical tubes pointed skyward like a battery of cannons, small crews working frantically to aim and adjust them. As the last rays of the already set sun slip away, the only thing visible in the sky is the moon in all its waxing gibbous glory. A cold snap has produced an unseasonably frigid evening, with temperatures plunging towards freezing, resulting in a crisply, clear night sky.

Among the astronomers dialing in their telescopes on the cleared hillside west of Mount Solon is Verona resident Joey Reece. For Reece, the hobby, which often involves spending all night standing outside in remote places, all started with a Christmas present. About two decades ago, Reece's wife, Sandi, wanted a telescope to satisfy a lifelong interest in astronomy. Someone recommended local astronomer and Mount Solon resident Jack Wine as an expert in the field. Reece bought a telescope based on Wine's recommendation.

"The next thing I knew I had been bitten by the astronomy bug too," he recalled.

Reece's fascination with the stars has taken him around the world, from observing a solar eclipse in the Libyan desert to trips to the Southern hemisphere to observe a totally different night sky. By the turn of the century, Reece, Wine and other local astronomers formed the Shenandoah Valley Stargazers, a club that draws members from throughout the central Shenandoah Valley.

Private observatory

The Stargazers club is unique in the fact that they have access to a private observatory. Nestled on the edge of the National Forest in the Stokesville area of western Augusta County sits the square, white building with a silo-shaped dome on one end. The observatory was the dream of H.D. "Ike" Riddleberger. Riddleberger, who was the owner of a Harrisonburg-based construction company, was inspired to build the observatory in the late 1980s on his property near Mount Solon after seeing color pictures of astronomy photos in a magazine. Riddleberger partnered with James Madison University's Physics Department, which helped design the structure and obtained a grant to install a 14-inch Celestron Compustar telescope in the powered dome.

The Stargazers' club and their observatory in Stokesville have proved to be fertile ground for local residents interested in propagating their interest in astronomy. Many club members got their start by joining the club and spending time at the observatory.

Staunton resident Earl Downs was only eight years old when he first saw the Northern Lights in the 1950s. This experience began a lifelong fascination with the sky, but it wasn't until he retired that he became a member of the Shenandoah Valley Stargazers and started to pursue astronomy seriously.

Adventure of discovery

For Fred Evans his interest in astronomy grew from a common fascination with the unknown.

"Who doesn't look up at the night sky and wonder what is out there," said Staunton resident Evans, who got his first telescope after retiring 12 years ago.

That adventure of discovery is what draws many astronomers.

"When you're looking at an object that is 10 million light years away, the light you're seeing has taken 10 million years to get here," noted Fort Defiance resident Betty Jean O'Shea. "What you're seeing may have changed or may no longer even be there. You're staring into infinity."

The Stargazers have a private observing session for club members once a month and open the observatory to the public twice a year. As we enter fall, local conditions become perfect for observing the night skies according to local astronomers. Cooler temperatures mean days are less hazy and night skies become crystal clear. The only thing that threatens an astronomer's hobby is light pollution, urban lighting at night that drowns out the stars. While it is hard to see all but the closest celestial objects in an urban area like Staunton, there are still plenty of places in Staunton where the night skies are dark. The observatory, surrounded by National Forest, is one of these places.

"Dark skies are what every astronomer searches for," Evans said.

At the recent open house, the encroaching darkness brings an explosion of visible stars in the sky above Stokesville. Inside the observatory visitors huddle against the cold pouring through the dome's open shutter as Reece trains the observatory's computer-controlled telescope towards the sky, pinpointing objects which people climb a step ladder to see. Peering through the scope's eyepiece distant worlds come into view, from the cloudy blot of the Andromeda Galaxy to a doughnut-shaped star which has blown off its outer shell.

"It's like moving to a new city and having to learn the streets, where the grocery store is and how to get around," Reece explains to his audience. "You start by learning the major constellations and you learn to find your way around the night sky."

Sky chart

In basic astronomy, you find an object in the sky and then use a sky chart to adjust your telescope by precise degrees to find other nearby objects in a process that astronomers call star hopping to view celestial objects that range from the moon to the International Space Station and distant galaxies.

"There is an art to it, but it's very rewarding to be able to look at a chart and then look at the sky and be able to find something," Good said.

Reece listed comets as the highlights of his decades of astronomy. His favorites were the Hale-Bopp and Hyakutake.

"Hyakutake was an awesome thing to see," said Reece, who served as president of the Stargazers for seven years and is currently the club's vice president. "It had a single, long tail that looked as long as the Big Dipper. It was the most inspiring thing I've ever seen in the night sky."

Such observations are once in a lifetime experiences. Scientists calculated that Hyakutake (named for the amateur Japanese astronomer who observed it) last came close to the earth 8,000 years before its 1996 visit and will not be seen again for another 14,000 years.

Downs recalls viewing a supernova, a star in the final stages of life that begins to blow off its outer shell of gas. The star slowly gets brighter over a period of weeks before it fades away.

"We're in a great spot in this country where you can see pretty much everything in the night sky except things that are very far south," Downs said.

Good likes to look for the "faint fuzzies," objects so distant they are hard to find.

For Evans, his favorite object in the night sky is the simplest one to spot.

"I never get tired of looking at the moon," Evans. "It doesn't matter how many times you've seen it in pictures, once you've looked at the moon through a telescope, it's just captivating."

Contacting the club

Reece encourages people interested in astronomy or in buying a telescope to contact the club with any questions, as he did nearly two decades ago, and to attend one of the biannual open houses when members of the Stargazers will help novice astronomers set up their telescopes.

"The most common mistake people make is going to Walmart and buying a telescope," he said. "For a couple hundred dollars more you can get a nice telescope that is more stable and easier to use. So many people get a cheap telescope and then quit astronomy because they grow frustrated trying to use it."

A good quality beginner telescope will cost between $300 and $500. As astronomers get deeper into their hobby they often spend several thousand dollars on telescopes, many of which are controlled by computers and GPS to automatically locate objects in the sky. Modern telescopes link to cell phones and the Internet so astronomers can share what they are watching with people around the world, something that club members hope will attract the next generation of stargazers.

Club members take their passion to the community, making astronomy presentations to local school and civic groups. Some, including Downs, are "solar ambassadors" for NASA.

"I think sharing with others is half the experience of astronomy," Downs said. "The opportunity to share what you have seen and learned over the years becomes an important part of it."

"These days it's hard to get kids away from their video games," Good said. "By going out and doing presentations in the community we hope to get kids excited and give them a reason to get outside."

By nine o'clock the Stargazers' open house is still going strong and will last late into the night. As the hours pass the sky continues to change, the objects moving, changing, appearing and disappearing. Through the magic of astronomy the group is traveling through time, across galaxies, into the unknown with their feet firmly planted beside their telescopes.

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