Astronomy club looks to the stars

For years, Rick Ballou's telescope sat in his garage unused. Without much knowledge of how to find constellations or even planets in the night sky, he didn't see much reason to take it out of the box.

Now the gadget fanatic has found he has a passion for the stars, mapping the craters of the moon and recently, looking at Saturn.

Not that he claims to be an expert. He still relies on his cell phone and his computer-assisted telescope to find where constellations are located and where the best angles might be to view them.

However, his interest in the hobby has grown and his goal is to purchase a $1,400 telescope that takes better pictures than his current one.

"It's a hobby that's really grown," Ballou said. "It started as just a suggestion for a group of us to get together one night and look at the stars and the next thing you know, we got about five or more guys all bringing out their telescopes."

The new group gathers every month or so at the Brooksville Christian Church and currently works to map the craters and other features of the moon. Since it keeps moving, and the group is new at it, it's not as easy as it might sound.

Most members have similar stories to Ballou and claimed they received telescopes as gifts or bought them on a whim and then left them sitting unused.
That was before meeting astronomy enthusiast Terry Walters.

"That's about the third thing we like to do is save telescopes from closets," Walters said. "People have a tendency to look down, not up and what we did here is find a group of people with a common interest and get together to not only look at the sky, but also talk and think objectively about the Earth."

Upgrades in technology have made learning astronomy easier. Ballou often pulls out his phone and uses an astrology feature that shows him where constellations are located as he points his phone at the sky. His $200 telescope, which can be found at nearby retail stores, can also point itself in the direction it needs to after Ballou punches in what he's looking for on the hand-held device.

Those features have made it easier for beginners, but Walters said he's just starting to try to teach club members to work without the help of devices.

For Karl Kinzer, what's nice about the group is everyone tries to help each other, especially while learning the ropes.

"Before when we'd look at a map up of the stars, it was all Greek," Kinzer said. "Hopefully, we'll keep things going so we can keep learning what's all up there."

Along with mapping the moon, the group has also been viewing Saturn, which more and more has come into view just as the sun goes down.

Ballou said after the group is through mapping, they will look at constellations and then planets. So far the group has about 11 members that include some teenagers and even a 9-year-old.

The group wants to offer a spot in the church's parking lot for others who might want to bring their telescopes out of the closet and learn about the stars.

"This is something for people of all ages," Ballou said. "And they don't have to have a passion for it. You just have to be inquisitive."

For more information of how to join the group, contact Ballou at 352-556-2253 or go to http://bcc-astronomy-club.com.