Keep Looking Up!

The stars in our springtime night sky hold many secrets.  What are the stars true brightnesses if they could be viewed from the same distance?  What do the colors of stars mean?  How big are the stars in the sky compared to our star the Sun?  Some of these questions were answered at the February meeting of Northeast Nebraska Astronomy Club (NENAC).  But in March we have more questions!  What can we learn about the masses of other stars, how does a star’s mass effect it’s life cycle, how old do stars get to be, and what happens to stars when they die?

Come to NENAC Saturday, March 12 at the Decatur Sears Center at 7pm.  There Pastor Gary Fugman will continue a discussion from February on the sizes of stars.  Learn what makes some stars Red Giants while others turn out to be White Dwarfs.  Find out about variability among stars, a changing of both brightness and temperature.  Be amazed by what astronomers can learn from binary stars and star clusters!

Then, free stars charts will be given and explained.  Weather permitting, Friday at 8pm we will observe the stars of March and the planet Jupiter with large astronomical telescopes three miles south of Lyons at the Cory and Tracie Martin residence.  Saturday we will observe from Fugman Observatory on the south side of Decatur.  Feel free to bring your binoculars or telescope along to learn about the night sky.

For more information and images about this and future NENAC presentations, google “nenacstars” or call Pastor Gary Fugman at 349-1953 and Keep Looking Up!

Questions to Consider:

One star is white and another star is red.  How can they be the same brightness?

Could a planet like Earth with life like us exist around a binary star, a double star solar system?