The evening sky will play host to this season’s entertainment as John Martin, associate professor of astronomy and physics at University of Illinois Springfield, once again leads the ever-popular star parties. The monthly parties offer opportunities to view astronomical occurrences such as lunar and solar eclipses and comets. In particular, you might be able to get a glimpse of Mars and a diffuse nebula, the Orion Nebula, at this week’s party. (Mark your calendar for the Aug. 12 program which will be just in time to catch the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.) Martin will present the programs online this year, and that does offer some advantages – the parties will go on rain or shine and you will get to go places you normally could not go to with some neat apps he will share. Visit the website or call to get the Zoom link. uis.edu/astronomy.
Star Parties
Fri., March 11, 7 p.m.
University of Illinois Springfield
217-206-8342
This article appears in Mar 11-17, 2021.
