The SIU School of Physics and the local astronomy club will resume their monthly public astronomy observation nights this weekend. The first event is this Sunday from 9 to 10:30 pm on the roof of the Neckers Building on SIU's campus. SIU Students and professors will provide telescopes showing community members how to explore the night sky.
SIU Physics scientist Bob Baer leads the events and says you'll be able to get up close to the moon, Jupiter, Saturn and even some distant stars and nebulae.
Baer says many people have the same reaction using their telescopes for the first time, "The best reactions I've ever seen is people freaking out when they look through the telescope. They see Saturn and they start screaming and jumping up and down. They run around the front of the scope to make sure we haven't taped a picture of Saturn on there because they can't believe how sharp it is."
The events are free. The next event following this Sunday is the Southern Illinois Star Party on September 25.
To find dates and times, go to this website: eclipse.siu.edu/public-astronomy-observations/
