In May of 2021 Dan Smiley thought he’d drop a note on Nextdoor to see if any neighbors wanted to join him for a night sky viewing through one of his telescopes. More than 100 people responded.
So he set up at the Tennessee Valley trailhead parking lot and marveled as about 60 people actually showed up along with a few other telescope-toting astronomers he didn’t know. “I discovered that there was a pent-up interest and enthusiasm for astronomy and stargazing,” Smiley says. “I found that people just have a natural curiosity, but they don’t always have an outlet or way to access it.”
Valley, had a “telescope” as a kid (it was more of a toy, he says) and loved looking at the stars back when there was much less light pollution in Marin. In his 20s he became more serious — bought some better gear — and traveled around California and Oregon seeking out dark skies. Now retired, the vice president of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers has more time to enjoy his hobby and share it with others.
The Stargazers and their dozen volunteers set up events for schools and the National Park Service, Mount Tamalpais State Park and Marin County Parks and enjoy an ongoing partnership with Marin County Open Space, but they are open to working with anyone. The Stargazers have also placed telescope kits at the Mill Valley and San Anselmo libraries, for borrowers to check out. But sometimes it’s just as simple as Smiley setting up a telescope and seeing who walks by: “I set up in Larkspur, just kitty-corner from Picco restaurant, and people who were out and about on a nice evening came by and looked at the moon and Jupiter.”
Smiley has a range of telescopes from about a three-inch refractor up to a 12-inch reflecting telescope, but he says he usually brings his eight-inch Dobsonian reflecting telescope to gatherings because it is portable and allows the viewer to see a lot of detail on the moon and the planets. “We can see things in our own galaxy, but we can also look outside it,” he says. “Up to as far as 50 or 60 million light-years away, really quite vast distances.”
Smiley says the public doesn’t need any experience to participate, just curiosity and a warm jacket — many participants have never looked through a telescope before. “They can be completely amazed at their first look at the moon or at Saturn. And often, their first reaction is, ‘oh my gosh, that can’t be real,’ ” Smiley says. “It doesn’t seem real to them, which is actually something that we love to hear because it means that we’re getting people to experience something that they’ve never experienced before.”
Upcoming events: Astronomy Night on August 31 at Stafford Lake Park, Novato, and a public star party at Mount Tamalpais State Park on October 5. Visit the Stargazers on Facebook to see upcoming events or join the mailing list by emailing marinstargazers@gmail.com.
