I went to the Star Party at the Very Large Array. It was a long drive, but worth it.
The last time I went was during the day. Going at night is really different. Many more stars were visible. It was even possible to see satellites moving in the night sky. At one point I saw with my binoculars what appeared to be a train of satellites moving together in line-astern formation.
The Very Large Array is a radio astronomy observatory. All the large dishes there are for receiving radio emissions from everywhere in the Universe. The VLA is out on the plains of San Agustin because there isn’t much out there to interfere with the sensitive radio receivers. The VLA requires visitors to put cellphones and other electronics on airplane mode. Driving there on US-60 took me through some magnificent country that would have fit into any Western movie. There are no visual telescopes there. However, for the party, some of the astronomers and other personnel there graciously brought out their personal telescopes and let us look through them and answer our questions, which may have seemed clueless to them.
I peered through one astronomer’s telescope, which was pointed at Jupiter. The atmospheric bands weren’t visible; Jupiter showed as a white dot. I was able to see four tiny white dots near Jupiter; these were Jupiter’s moons Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. Europa featured prominently in Arthur C. Clarke’s work 3001: The Final Odyssey, while Ganymede featured prominently in Robert Heinlein’s Farmer in the Sky.
It was great to get away from the daily grind and see the unspoiled night sky. It was really inspirational. It brought to mind the words of Thomas Paine, the great American revolutionary:
“The Word of God is the Creation that we behold, and it is in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to Man.”
“Do we want to contemplate his power? We see it in the immensity of the Creation. Do we want to contemplate his wisdom? We see it in the unchangeable order by which the incomprehensible whole is governed! Do we want to contemplate his munificence? We see it in the abundance with which he fills the earth. Do we want to contemplate his mercy? We see it in his not withholding that abundance even from the unthankful. In fine, do we want to know what God is? Search not the book called the Scripture, which any human hand might make, but the Scripture called the Creation.”
The vast night sky made a lot of what we do every day seem foolish.
I opted not to camp or stay in a hotel, but drove home that same night. Driving in the darkness, I felt as if I was flying through the interstellar night in a small spaceship. I kicked myself for not bringing my CD of Gustav Holst’s The Planets, or one of the Star Trek movie soundtracks.
This was an excellent way for VLA to showcase what it does and to drum up support. Count me in as one of the supporters.