Public night at UNL's Behlen Observatory is Nov. 17

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Behlen Observatory near Mead will be open to the public from 7 to 10 p.m. Nov. 17. The observatory is located at the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center, and operated by the UNL Department of Physics and Astronomy.

Provided the sky is clear, visitors will be able to view a variety of objects with the 30-inch telescope and with smaller telescopes set up outside of the observatory. These include a globular star cluster, an open star cluster, the Ring Nebula in Lyra and several double or multiple stars. At various times throughout the evening, members of the observatory staff will give illustrated talks.

Even though the sun is a single star, most stars are in double or multiple star systems. Multiple stars are nearly always too distant for us to see the individual stars separately. However, a number of double stars that can be resolved by a telescope are visible in the evening sky. Although the stars in a double system formed together, they can look quite different. For example, Albereo in the constellation of Cygnus consists of two stars which are dramatically different in color and brightness. Sometimes there are more than two stars in a star system such as in Epsilon Lyrae, where the telescope reveals four stars in orbit about each other. These objects, as well as several other binary star systems, may be observed during the public night.

There is no admission charge for the public night. Further information can be found on the observatory Web site, http://astro.unl.edu/observatory, or by calling UNL astronomer Edward Schmidt at (402) 472-7304. The observatory will also be open to the public from 7 to 10 p.m. Dec. 15.

Directions to the observatory (maps are available on the Web site):

FROM LINCOLN: Take U.S. 77 north from Lincoln. Six miles past Ceresco, turn east on Nebraska 66 (formerly 63) and go 8 miles to the Mead road. Turn left and go 1 mile north to Avenue H. At this corner, there are large brown signs on both sides of the road listing various locations of the UNL Agricultural Research and Development Center. Turn right on Avenue H and continue east 2 miles to Eighth Street. Turn left on Eighth Street and follow it north 0.6 miles to the observatory, which will be seen on the left.
FROM OMAHA: Take Nebraska 92 west to Mead. At Mead, turn south on Nebraska Spur 78F and follow it for about 5 miles to Avenue H. At this corner, there are large brown signs on both sides of the road listing various locations of the UNL Agricultural Research and Development Center. Turn left on Avenue H and continue east 2 miles to Eighth Street. Turn left on Eighth Street and follow it north 0.6 miles to the observatory, which can be seen on the left.

CONTACT: Edward Schmidt, Professor, Physics and Astronomy, (402) 472-7304