HAGERSTOWN (AP) — Jim Stanicek vividly remembers the excitement he experienced the first time he looked through a telescope.

Forget that the instrument was tiny with a 2-inch mirror.

“I was a very young boy, no older than 7 or 8,” he said. “And when I saw Saturn, it was just incredible.”

Those glimpses — “probably equal to what Galileo saw through his primitive lens” — propelled Stanicek into a hobby that has taken him deep into the universe.

He’s an amateur astronomer.

Stanicek owns three major telescopes, several sets of binoculars and an assortment of computer software, and enjoys astrophotography.

“It’s a very serious hobby,” he said — a hobby he shares with fellow members of Tristate Astronomers, a local organization for night-sky buffs.

In addition to club activities, the group does school presentations, library events and an annual star party at Antietam National Battlefield, he said.

The group also hosts telescope clinics to assist people who are new to the hobby, as well as individuals who are updating their equipment.

Stanicek was one of several club members on hand one recent Saturday morning at Discovery Station at Hagerstown to answer questions from area telescope owners.

“We hold several clinics throughout the year,” he said. “But we especially try to set one up after Christmas for those who received telescopes as gifts.”

“It’s an indoor activity, so we can’t observe anything,” he said. “But we try to answer questions and provide helpful tips. We see parents and grandparents with children who are new to the hobby. But we also have people who have advanced computerized telescopes who need some guidance.”

Among the participants in the clinic was Jo Prokop of Martinsburg, W.Va.

Accompanied by her husband, Robert, Prokop said she received a telescope for Christmas and came to the clinic for some expertise.

“I’ve had an interest in telescopes for years,” she said. “But I always worked at night. Now that I’m retired, I can take advantage of my free time.”

Prokop said the clinic “seemed like the logical place to come for advice. They’ve been a world of help.”

Stanicek said the telescope has come a long way since Galileo looked through a dented cylinder with a lens pocked with air bubbles more than 400 years ago.

There are space telescopes and optical telescopes the size of stadiums in the works.

“Galileo would be totally swept away,” Stanicek said. “He just couldn’t have imagined.”