Public night set Dec. 14 at UNL's Behlen Observatory

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Behlen Observatory near Mead will be open to the public 7-10 p.m. Dec. 14.

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 the Moon, the planet Mars, the Orion Nebula, and star clusters.

Because the Moon is Earth's closest celestial neighbor and has no atmosphere to obscure the view, its surface can be seen clearly through the telescope. Large areas of the lunar surface are covered with craters left by ancient meteor impacts. Other areas, known as maria or seas, are darker in color and contain few craters. Lunar mountains can be seen along the edges of the maria. Early astronomers believed that the maria were oceans similar to those on the Earth. Its now known that they are actually smooth plains formed when lava flooded large impact basins. The Moon will be near its first quarter phase and can be viewed during the early part of the public night.

At various times throughout the evening members of the observatory staff will give illustrated talks.

There is no admission charge for the public night. More information can be found on the observatory Web site at http://astro.unl.edu/observatory or by contacting UNL astronomer Edward Schmidt at (402) 472-7304 or by e-mail.

The observatory is on the grounds of the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center and is operated by the UNL Department of Physics and Astronomy. 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 eight miles to the Mead road. Turn left and go one mile north to Avenue H. At this corner, there are large brown signs on both sides of the road listing various locations of the field lab. Turn right on Avenue H and continue east two 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 five miles to Avenue H. At this corner, there are large brown signs on both sides of the road listing various locations of the field lab. Turn left on Avenue H and continue east two 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.