A First Visit

Lone Star Observatory

We will provide directions on how to get to the site. We encourage you to stop in Durant (south of the site on Hwy 75—Exit Route 70) or Atoka (north of the site on Hwy 75—Exit 13th Street) for an early dinner or for take-out to be brought to the site. Or you might prefer to bring a picnic basket along. There is also a Dairy Queen just off Hwy 75 in Caddo, OK that is somewhat closer to the observatory site when coming from the south.

Upon your arrival, we will show you around the observatory and clubhouse, have some dinner if you brought take-out, and then explain the various parts of the telescope and how the scope operates while the daylight affords us a better view of this wonderful piece of equipment. While we wait for darkness to fall, your guide and instructor will tell you more about the objects you will be seeing during the evening. If there is something special you would like to see and it is visible during the evening, we will definitely add that to our viewing list.

With nightfall, we will go onto the viewing deck. Your host will identify planets and some of the brightest or particularly unusual stars and teach you to identify certain constellations. And, during most months, you will see the Milky Way stretching across the sky. There is so much to see when you have the beauty of a dark sky. All astronomers spend long stretches of time looking at the night sky without any optical aids. How can you not?

Then we will enter the observatory and begin viewing through the telescope. If you have never viewed through a telescope, we will give each member of your party a little practice time to become accustomed to what the field of view looks like. Then we will show you some of the planets within our solar system and look outwards beyond our solar system to see star nurseries, clusters of stars that have yet to disperse after their births, double stars with striking color differences, dying stars, the remnants of exploded stars, and far-distant galaxies—all with explanations of what you are viewing, what is special about the object, and how far away it is. Or we should say that we will show you as many of these as we reasonably can. We don’t want to overload you, and we want to give everyone time to view through the eyepiece and experience the moment without feeling rushed. Generally, it is better to look at fewer objects and fully appreciate them than quickly run through a list. (When our members view through the scope by themselves, we sometimes spend the entire evening and far into the morning looking at only one type of object such as globular clusters or at objects located within or near a single small constellation. We don’t rush; we treasure the moment. This is not a contest.)

We also don’t want you to ensconce yourself inside the observatory. There is regular movement to and from the telescope and the viewing deck, which extends off the observatory. Look at an object through the telescope, then go out on the deck. We will point out for you where the object you just saw is located in relation to the full night sky.

At the conclusion of the evening, after much bonhomie and good cheer, you have the option of heading home, going to a motel in a nearby town, or staying overnight at the clubhouse. If you choose to leave the site, keep in mind that you must drive six miles down a very dark country road before reaching Hwy 75. Watch out for deer.