Lincoln (Neb.) - Oct. 22, 1998 - The October public night at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Observatory will be from 7 to 10 p.m. Oct. 30. The viewing is free and children are welcome. Even though this is the night before Halloween, nothing spooky is planned - no tricks here, just celestial treats for all the family.
Planned treats of the evening will be the craters of the waxing gibbous moon and the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. Gas giant Jupiter is the biggest planet in the solar system. If it had been a bit bigger it would have been a star. Through the telescope you can see lots of activity in the planet's clouds. You also can see Jupiter's four largest moons encircling it. The ringed planet Saturn is now moving into the evening sky. It will be on show at the next several public nights. As well as the splendid ring system, several of Saturn's moons can be seen, too.
It is cold at night in the fall and the observatory is unheated so attendees (children in particular) should dress appropriately.
The observatory is on the roof of the parking garage on Stadium Boulevard directly across from Memorial Stadium.
The viewing session will be canceled if it is totally overcast.
Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the November public night will be Nov. 20. There will be no public night in December because of the holidays.
To see images taken from the Student Observatory visit:
(http://www.blackstarpress.com/arin/unl/stdobsv/remote/) on the
World Wide Web. For more information call (402) 472-4788.
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For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons@unlinfo.unl.ed
u
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825