Free Astronomy Program and Night Viewing at Hobbs State Park

Six times a year the Sugar Creek Astronomical Society presents free programs and night viewings at Hobbs State Park.   The group brings their high-powered telescopes to make it easy for the public to view the heavens.  Viewing the night sky is great family fun as well as a learning experience.
     According to Jack McDaniel, president of the SCAS, “There will be three planets visible on the 28th. Saturn and Venus will appear in the western sky and Uranus in the eastern sky. Uranus will be visible from sunset to sunrise.  We will see Saturn and a very bright Venus for only an hour or so before they disappear below the horizon. We will train our telescopes on all three.
      The Summer Triangle will be high overhead as usual this time of year. The triangle is formed by three bright stars: Deneb, Altair, and Vega.  The Andromeda galaxy, M31, will be visible in the northeastern sky about 10 o’clock.  The Milky Way (our own galaxy) will appear as a very luminous ribbon of light to the naked eye.
     We will observe numerous star clusters.  A globular cluster is a spherical collection of stars that are very tightly bound by gravity.  Our featured cluster is M13 in the constellation Hercules.  M13 is comprised of hundreds of thousands of stars and is about 160 light years away.  It can be viewed with the naked eye on a clear night.  It is a beautiful sight in our telescopes.
     One of our favorite objects in the sky is the Ring Nebula M57.  Although it appears as a faint, but distinctive “donut”, it has a dramatic story.  Scientists have determined that it is a proxy for the future of our own solar system.  A star with almost the same mass as our own sun blew off its outer layers as it approached the end phase of its existence.  When this happens in our own solar system in about 5 billion years, the Earth will be burned to a cinder!  Perhaps colonizing Mars isn’t a bad idea.
     Come join us and explore the September night sky!”

Where:  Hobbs State Park visitor center located on Hwy 12 just east of the Hwy    12/War Eagle Road intersection.
When:  Saturday September 28, 2013    Beginner’s Astronomy Class starts at        7:00 p.m.    Observation using binoculars, telescopes and the naked eye will begin around 8:00 p.m.
Cost:  FREE
For more information call:  479-789-5000
To learn more about upcoming Friends of Hobbs speakers and other park programs, go to the web site: http://www.friendsofhobbs.com/