The University of Nebraska State Museum will explore telescopes and the night sky in a Sept. 22 Sunday with a Scientist presentation. The event, located in Morrill Hall, is open 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Cost is free for faculty, staff, students and immediately family (with valid NCard).

Volunteers from Hyde Memorial Observatory and the Prairie Astronomy Club will lead the event. A variety of telescopes will be set up to help visitors understand the different types of telescopes. There are many misconceptions about what represents a good telescope. The amateur astronomers will aid in understanding how to make informed purchases.

Experienced telescope owners and operators will demonstrate their proper use with some indoor targets representing celestial objects. Hands-on direction will lead visitors to understand how to get the most out of a telescope of any type. Star charts of the current sky will be available for the visitors, explaining some of the objects that might make good targets in the night sky for the telescopes.

Mueller Planetarium will be presenting its current Astronomy show: “A Planet For Goldilocks” (which concludes with a section on the current night sky) at 2 p.m. Separate admission is charged for the Planetarium show.

The previously planned topic for September, Agate Fossil Beds, has been postponed. It will be scheduled at a later date.

Sunday with a Scientist is a series of events that highlight the work of university scientists, while educating children and families on topics related to science and nature.

Upcoming Sunday with a Scientist topics: Oct. 20 — Bats; Nov. 17 — Solar energy; Dec. 15 — Gene silencing in plants.