Lincoln (Neb.)-Aug. 24, 1998-Weather permitting, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Observatory will be open for public viewing from 8:15 to 10:30 p.m. Aug. 28.
In twilight, the telescope will be trained on the stunning sight of the craters on the almost first-quarter moon. After dark, the focus of attention will be the Lagoon nebula in the constellation of Sagittarius. This nebula and an associated star cluster are located in the next spiral arm of our galaxy toward the center of the galaxy, about 4,800 light-years away from the earth.
The nebula is so called because from a dark place it looks as though there is a "dark lagoon" in the nebulosity. This "lagoon" is really dust mixed in with the glowing gas. Stars are still forming inside dust clouds in the Lagoon nebula. Astronomers consider the Lagoon nebula to be a "young" cluster, astronomically speaking. The estimated age of the cluster is "only" 10 million years. Our sun is about 500 times older than the Lagoon nebula.
The garage on which the observatory is located and nearby university parking lots will be closed because of the football game the next day so participants must park off campus and walk to the observatory. The observatory will not be open if it is there is heavy cloud cover.
For more information, call Martin Gaskell at (402) 472-4788.
Images taken at the observatory can be viewed on the World Wide
Web at (http://www.blackstarpress.com/arin/unl/stdobsv/remote/).
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For questions regarding these releases, contact:
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(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825