since August, 2000 when he bought
the 10-acre property from John and
Mary Hoover. Marathon Motel & RV
Park’s web site boasts, “Sunsets,
Stargazing and Storm Chasing—
We’ve Got the Sky For You.” And
brother, that ain’t lying.
Since before that auspicious sum-
mer and for each of the 16 summers
since, Danny has become a stargazer
of some repute. The Marathon Motel
& RV Park and its proud owner have
undergone renovations and paradigm
shifts of stellar proportions, which has
helped to thrust West Texas astrono-
my into the night light, if not the strat-
osphere, sending the art of stargazing
in the Big Bend off at Warp Speed.
This is spurring star studies in local
schools and encouraging astrophotog-
raphy nationwide by celestial leaps
and bounds.
“It didn’t happen overnight,”
Danny said. “But by a series of
serendipitous encounters with key
players, I evolved into a serious
stargazer and dragged my family and
circle of friends along with me. What
could be more fun,” he asked, “but to
sit outside with good friends, good
music, and a box of wine, searching
for constellations and planets, studying
the black velvet, star-studded sky!”
Danny discovered that he had relo-
cated to the premiere setting in the
United States, where stargazing could
be exercised to maximum effect.
“The McDonald Observatory in Fort
Davis boasts one of the best stargazing
programs in the world. Thanks to the
McDonald Observatory, its staff and
many of their avid associated
astronomers, who encouraged me
along the way with my love of stargaz-
ing. Without the help of men of vision
like Bill Wren, Allen Gilchrist, Jim
Chandler, Scott Mecca and Larry
Roy, I would never have accomplished
the things we have been able to accom-
plish in Marathon with this project.”
The story of his stargazing efforts in
Big Bend Country began with his love
of the skies and developed into a com-
munity project in which he takes great
pride.
“In the beginning, after I bought the
Motel, we had guests—myself and my
wife, Mindy—inquire as to the identity
of the brilliant lights overhead, nearly
every evening. Some guests would
break out their binoculars and we’d sit
outside and scan the night sky. But I
soon learned that far more than binoc-
ular optic power would be necessary to
truly appreciate—and study— the fir-
mament high above.”
It didn’t take Danny long to come
to the realization that he was optically
challenged. The first serendipitous
milestone of his successful stargazing
journey came in 2005 with the visit of
two guests at the Motel, both serious
amateur astronomers. “Those guys
really got me off dead-center and years
later, after extensive inquiry and
research, I
realized the second
serendipitous milestone of this journey
was when I bought myself a 2011
Christmas present: my first telescope, a
9 ¼- inch Schmidt Cassegrain.”
ing venue was beginning, at long last,
to come to fruition. Far from being in
the same league as the Big Boys’ Guns
(the McDonald Observatory’s 107-
inch and 87-inch telescopes, or the
behemoth 24.5 meter telescope under
construction in the Chilean Andes),
Danny’s stargazing observatory in
Marathon is a first-rate small-scale
observatory in any astronomer’s book.
With the delivery and set up of the
Dobsonian telescope, other astronomy
aficionados around the United States
have learned of his stargazing efforts in
Marathon, Texas, and rented space
here for their stargazing and photo-
Self sho w s o ff the little o bservato ry, w here stargazers can set up their equipment and co ntro l it
remo tely via the internet. The entire ro o f o f the structure slides aw ay to allo w state-o f-the-art
star view ing o f Maratho n's dark skies, fro m anyw here in the w o rld.
Danny’s stargazing was no longer
relegated to the backseat of binocular
power.
The third serendipitous mile-
stone—perhaps the greatest of them
all—in Danny’s journey occurred in
2013,
when
the
McDonald
Observatory donated a powerful, 24-
inch Dobsonian telescope to the
Marathon Independent School
District. “The school has a very real
interest in stargazing,” Danny said,
“but they weren’t sure exactly what to
do with the telescope.” That’s when
Danny, working with friends at the
Observatory, came up with plans for
relocating the Dobsonian telescope to
the light-challenged back side of
Danny’s property—in a darkened cor-
ner of his Motel & RV Park. “Ours
was the ideal location, far removed
from the glare of the town’s competing
urban and traffic lights,” Danny said.
Danny’s, Marathon’s and Big
Bend’s hope for a world-class stargaz-
graphic efforts from Danny, setting up
personal, remote-controlled, astropho-
tographic telescopes. “Our stargazing
plans and capabilities keep growing by
light years,” Danny beamed.
Marathon’s First Annual Star Party
was February 28, 2013, and it was a
stunning success. Danny believes it
will only get better! Conditions in
Marathon are optimum for stargazing.
With a Class 1 Dark Sky (using the
Bortle Light Pollution Scale),
Marathon Motel & RV Park boasts
some of the darkest skies with the most
brilliant viewing in the Lower 48.
Crowd favorites include the planets
Jupiter and Saturn, and of course
meteor showers. Constellations and
colorful nebulae, nighttime discoveries
and pockmarked, detailed lunar close
ups always elicit ‘oohs and ahs’ from
visiting crowds.
“We supply all the accoutrement for
stargazing in the Big Bend,” Danny
said, “without admission costs. All one
needs bring is a Pocketbook Sky Atlas
(optional), a map of the stars available
from Amazon.com, a bottle of wine
and a glass (optional). Come and join
us here to observe the brilliant
Universe with its myriad constella-
tions, stars, planets and galaxies;
weather permitting.”
In the 1984 science fiction film
Starman, a humanoid alien (Jeff
Bridges) traveled from the far reaches
of space to Earth in an alien craft in
response to Voyager 2’s Earth probe
star message, “PEACE.” Ironically,
the alien craft was shot down by well-
meaning Earth defenders. Yet
Starman survived and assumed the
form of Karen Allen’s deceased hus-
band. The rest of the movie takes us
through Karen’s fear and mistrust of
the alien, earth defenders’ pursuit of
the “hostile” alien, Starman’s torrid
love affair, albeit short-lived, with
Karen who becomes pregnant by
Starman, the near death of Starman
and his final rescue from Earth via
space ship thanks to his alien pals.
Starman was a great flick. Yet that was
fiction.
Not to suggest parallels with the
film, however strained, between
Danny and Jeff Bridges’ Starman.
Okay, the same good looks are unde-
niable. Yes, Self made his way to West
Texas by circuitous route. Yes, Self
helped deliver a star message to Big
Bend’s residents and visitors. And yes,
Self possesses exemplary skills, not
unlike the alien’s, but Self has never
claimed to be of superior intellect. Call
him the Starman of West Texas?
Danny shrugs and smiles, “I’ve been
called worse.” Danny Self of tiny
Marathon, Texas, is a luminary in
quest of bright luminaries in the West
Texas night skies.
Peruse the Motel’s web site
(www.marathonmotel.com) or better
yet, call and make reservations and
make plans to stay at the Marathon
Motel & RV Park some clear, starry
night and enjoy a Star Party with
Danny and Mindy Self and friends.
You’ll be so glad you did. You’ll thank
your lucky stars!
“When I look at your heavens, the work of
your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you
have set in place, what is man that you are
mindful of him and the son of man that you
care for him?”—Ps. 8:3-4
Cenizo
Second Quarter 2017
19