The Drake University Municipal Observatory will open its fall 2013 series, “We Are All Star Stuff,” this Friday, September 6 at 8 p.m. Presentations will be held every Friday night through Oct. 25 at the Drake University Municipal Observatory, which is located on the Waveland Golf Course, 4908 University Ave.
Each event in the series features a lecture followed by hands-on viewing of several stellar objects through a large refracting telescope and several smaller reflecting telescopes.
Drake faculty members Herbert Schwartz, lecturer in astronomy, and Charles Nelson, associate professor of physics and astronomy, will give the presentations.
All lectures start at 8 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Children are welcome with a parent or other responsible adult. Events will be held regardless of the weather; however, due to sky conditions or other special circumstances, the selection for observation is subject to last-minute changes.
We Are All Star Stuff
• Sept. 6: How Do We Look at the stars and discover that they are big, hot spheres of gases that are trillion of miles away?
• Sept. 13: How Do We Know that stars are big, hot, spheres of gases that are trillions of miles away?
• Sept. 20: Our Sun, The Star A close look at a middle aged, slightly small, slightly variable, slightly yellow star.
• Sept. 27: A Star Is Born Gravity is the mid-wife of most stellar births. Sometimes it takes a good slap to get things going.
• Oct. 4: The Life of Henrietta A look at the family of stars and how astronomers try to understand their complexities.
• Oct. 11: Giants, Starting to Die The evolution of a star and how gravity will decide how the star will die.
• Oct. 18: 167 Million Elephants How dying stars create some of the most beautiful objects in the Universe and the most dangerous.
• Oct. 25: Gone! In 60 micro-seconds Gravity wins, and only gravity and a lot of noise remains.
For more information, contact Drake’s Department of Physics and Astronomy at 515-271-3141.