Open house offers chance to see shooting stars

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of Physics and Astronomy will host an open house from 8 to 11 p.m. April 20 at Behlen Observatory, 35 miles northeast of Lincoln, near Mead. The event is free and open to the public.

If weather permits, attendees will be able to view the Hercules star cluster, the Whirlpool Galaxy, a waxing crescent moon and Jupiter through various telescopes. The date also marks the midpoint of the Lyrid meteor shower, so visitors could see a shooting star or two.

Kevin Lee, research associate professor at Nebraska, will present “Stellar Demographics: A Survey of the Characteristics of Stars” at 8:45 p.m. Society of Physics students also will give science demonstrations.

Learn more about the observatory.