TECOPA HOT SPRINGS -- With a powerful telescope, the galaxy becomes more than a white twinkle in a darkened sky and star gazers will get a chance to get up close and personal with the heavens at the final Star Party of the season, starting at dusk at the Tecopa Hot Springs Resort in Tecopa, Calif.

Amy Noel, part owner of the resort, is a catalyst for all things Tecopa. The star party is one of her successful ventures in raising awareness of the community.

She couldn't have picked a better place. Although Pahrump is a small town, it is large enough and has enough lighting to distract from the heavenly detail offered by relative darkness.

Saturday evening the group will use a high-powered Celestron telescope with a 14-inch mirror to search the skies for Jupiter early in the evening, and star clusters and the nebula, or gas clouds, left behind by dying stars and visible as the first expression of a new star being born, as the evening progresses.

Noel said, "We can see into the galaxy and witness things that are happening tens of thousands of light years away."

Noel started the monthly event upon the arrival of astronomers from astrochannels.com who were looking for a warmer climate from which they might gaze into the depths of space.

Noel said she's "learned a lot from them" and uses her knowledge to narrate the event.

It isn't that everyone has to take turns looking through one telescope. The viewing is simulcast by a live video feed onto a screen enabling the audience to express a low rumble of appreciation in unison.

The recent rains have "turned the desert green" Noel said. "People should come early, before it gets dark. It's beautiful."

There are other reasons to go early. The art gallery on the property is one of the original structures built of salvaged rail ties from the old Tidewater and Tonopah rail line and is worth a visit.

Pastels Bistro is also located on the property and will be open for upscale dining.

Should participants arrive after dark or get side-tracked by other activities, there is a lighted path and signs leading to the stargazing area behind the cabins.

Overnight accommodations are available too. Dry camping and self-contained RVs are welcome in the campground and Noel has renovated the old motel and two of the natural hot spas for overnight guests.

Bringing a lawn chair or blanket is suggested as seating is informal. Coolers and alcoholic beverages are permitted. The venue is free and open to the public.

Tecopa Hot Springs Resort is located at 860 Tecopa Hot Springs Road and may be reached either from Shoshone or by the Tecopa turn-off located 15 miles south of Pahrump on Highway 160.

Call 760-852-4420 for more information and directions.