Public night at UNL's Behlen Observatory near Mead is Feb. 12

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Behlen Observatory near Mead will be open for public viewing 7:30-10 p.m. Feb. 12.

If the sky is clear, visitors will be able to view a variety of objects through the observatory's 30-inch telescope, including Mars, the Great Orion Nebula, a star cluster, a double star and a planetary nebula. In addition to the observatory's telescope, members of the Omaha Astronomical Society will set up their telescopes outside the observatory. At 8 p.m., a member of the observatory staff will give an illustrated talk about objects in the evening sky.

The constellation Orion will be high in the sky during the public night. Viewed through binoculars the middle star in the "sword" of Orion turns out to be a small, fuzzy patch of light while the 30-inch telescope reveals a glowing cloud of interstellar gas called the Great Orion Nebula. The visible nebula is just a small part of a large, dark interstellar gas cloud. All of the stars visible in the telescope formed from the cloud and new stars are still forming within it. These newly formed stars heat the front surface of the cloud to a temperature of about 8,500 degrees Celsius (15,000 degrees Fahrenheit), causing the gas to glow.

There is no admission charge for the public night. Further information can be found on the observatory web site at http://astro.unl.edu/observatory or by calling UNL astronomer Edward Schmidt at (402) 472-2788.

There will also be public nights on March 26 and April 23 from 7 to 10 p.m. each night.

Directions to the observatory follow (maps are available on the Web site). The observatory can be found on a Google Map at http://go.unl.edu/i04.

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.