With this column, Stargazer, first published in January 1990, is 20 years old. And there’s more than one irony associated with its existence.

Back in 1958, had anyone predicted to my University of Texas freshman English instructor that her immature 18-year-old student would become a published writer, she would have laughed while marking another “D” on yet one more of my weekly 500-word themes.

Not only did I have poor writing skills, but I had to struggle to come up with 500 words on the topics we were assigned. Now, every other week, I struggle to keep my column down to the 500-word range.

For reasons I still can’t fathom, amateur astronomy is a hobby dominated by males, yet three women are largely responsible for helping me launch Stargazer.

In 1954, as a 14-year-old growing up on the banks of Galveston Bay, it was 81-year-old Margaret Willits who lit the stargazing flame in me.

I was amazed as she pointed out stars and told me their names, outlined constellations, and knew which “stars” were really planets. She described seeing Haley’s Comet in 1910, and told me some day I could see it for myself — a day that came in 1986.

Years later in late 1989, I came up with the idea of a column, drafted four pilots, and submitted them to the Trib. In her rejection letter, then-managing editor Barbara Elmore offered some helpful critique and invited me to resubmit if I cared to.

Disappointed, but also encouraged, I asked journalist friend (and now Trib managing editor) Becky Gregory to give my pilots a no-holds-barred assessment — and, boy, did she ever. Her multipage response, akin to a Journalism 101 crash course, was incredibly helpful.

I rewrote and resubmitted the pilots, and the Stargazer column was born.

In 1998, I retired from my career as social worker and college professor and began devoting more time to my amateur astronomy passion. In 2002, I began offering Stargazer to other newspapers, and it now appears in some 65 papers in five states.

The free e-mail version of the column goes out to 200 people in 21 states and seven countries, and is archived on my Web site.

As I approach my 70th birthday still loving the stars, I anticipate many more Stargazers, and I welcome your letters and e-mails with comments and questions. I answer every one.

* Next two weeks. Average sunrise: 7:28 a.m.; average sunset: 5:49 p.m. Monday morning a thin crescent moon nearly grazes the star Antares low in the southeast before dawn, then Wednesday morning a thinner crescent moon is to Mercury’s lower right near the eastern horizon as dawn breaks; binoculars will help. Friday’s new moon produces an annular eclipse of the sun which unfortunately won’t be visible here. The evening of Jan. 17, a crescent moon is to the lower right of Jupiter low in the west at dusk; the following night the moon is above the planet.

* Naked-eye planets. Evening: Jupiter is setting in the western sky as Mars rises in the eastern sky. Morning: Mercury is very low in the east, Saturn is high in the south, and Mars is in the west. Venus is now in the sun.

* Star Party. The Central Texas Astronomical Society’s free monthly star party is tonight at the Lake Waco Wetlands beginning at 7 p.m., weather permitting. For directions see my Web site.

Stargazer appears every other Saturday. Paul Derrick is an amateur astronomer who lives in Waco. Contact him at 918 N. 30th St., Waco 76707, (254) 753-6920 or paulderrickwaco@aol.com. See the Stargazer Web site at stargazerpaul.com.