Many respected experts point to an alarming trend among our youth that is likely to have dire consequences for our society. They’re not referring to drugs, sex and the usual litany of things we hear and read about. Rather, their concern is a declining interest and proficiency in science and mathematics.

They warn that if this trend isn’t reversed, and soon, we could quickly find ourselves in the backwater of knowledge-building and technological development — important components of the foundation of our societal and economic well-being. So what, you may wonder, does this have to do with amateur astronomy and stargazing?

As members of the Central Texas Astronomical Society, I and others conduct dozens of free classes, programs and star parties for schools each year. Part of our motivation, of course, is a desire to share our passion for the night sky with anyone willing listen.

For many of us, the stargazing spark was ignited long ago by an interested adult; maybe we can pass that spark along to the next generation.

But we have another motive that relates to the issue mentioned above. Astronomy is an excellent vehicle for getting kids’ attention. We show images of beautiful and exotic objects in the cosmos. We talk about black holes, space travel and other mind-bending topics. We even conjecture about life beyond Earth and discuss the many things we still don’t know.

And after we get them wondering about things, we suggest that just maybe some of them will go into careers where they can help find answers to some of the intriguing questions and make discoveries to further our knowledge about the world and, indeed, the cosmos around us. Someone has to, so why not some of them?

Our aim is not to encourage youngsters to become professional astronomers. We don’t even expect that a high percentage of them will pursue careers in science or math.

But maybe we can increase the number who will at least consider science or math. And, hopefully, those who don’t will become more enlightened citizens with greater respect and appreciation for science and math and will support it more vigorously.

If you’re a teacher (or parent), perhaps you’d like to have an amateur astronomer speak to your students. Contact me, and maybe we can come up with some ideas to make it happen.

* Mars Hoax. Each year since Mars’ August 2003 close approach to Earth, the same e-mails have circulated, misleading folks into believing it’s about to happen again this August. Sorry, but it isn’t.

* Next Two Weeks. Average sunrise: 6:23 a.m.; average sunset: 8:31 p.m. Tonight’s first quarter moon is below Saturn. The June 7 full moon is called Flower Moon, Rose Moon and Strawberry Moon.

* June 6 Occultation. The evening of June 6, the nearly full moon occults (passes in front of and temporarily hides) the star Antares. The star passes behind the bottom left of the moon about 8:50 p.m. in the twilight, when the moon is still low in the east, and emerges from the moon’s upper right about 10:05 p.m. Antares is a bright star, but because of the moon’s glare, you’ll want to use at least binoculars to see the star.

* Naked-eye planets. Evening: Saturn is high in the southwest. Morning: Jupiter is the brightest object in the southeast with “morning star” Venus low in the east and much fainter Mars to Venus’ lower left just before dawn; Mercury is emerging low in the east at dawn.

Stargazer appears every other Saturday in the Brazos Living section. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact him at (254) 753-6920 or at paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com.