Behlen Observatory free public night is March 11

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Behlen Observatory near Mead will be open to the public 7:30-10 p.m. March 11.

Provided the sky is clear, visitors will be able to view a variety of objects with the observatory's 30-inch telescope and with smaller telescopes set up outside of the observatory. These include the moon, the planet Saturn (at the end of the evening), the Great Orion Nebula, a star cluster, a planetary nebula and double or multiple stars. At 8 p.m., a member of the observatory staff will give an illustrated talk about the night sky.

Even though the sun is a single star, most stars are in double or multiple star systems. The stars in these systems orbit about each other just as the planets orbit the sun. Most multiple stars are too distant for us to see the individual stars separately, but a number of double stars which 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 in color and brightness. One such star is currently visible in the evening sky and may be observed during the public night.

There is no admission charge for the public night. Further information can be found on the observatory website, http://astro.unl.edu/observatory.

The remaining public night this spring is scheduled for 7:30-10 p.m. April 8.

Directions to the Observatory (maps are available on the website):

From LINCOLN: Take U.S. 77 north. Six miles past Ceresco, turn east on Nebraska 66 and go eight miles to the Mead road. Turn left on the Mead road 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 on 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. 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 on 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 will be seen on the left.

WRITER: Edward Schmidt