The End of the World at this month’s ‘Friday Nights, Celestial Lights’
By Amanda Beck
Senior Communications Specialist
We’ve all heard it. The Mayan calendar ends and prophets have predicted it. The world will end in 2012. But what astronomical events are connected with this phenomenon?
This month’s “Friday Nights, Celestial Lights” event explores the events that have been attributed to the so-called ‘end of the world’ (relax—it won’t happen). UTSA’s faculty astronomers invite the community to the Main Campus on Friday, Jan. 20 for this free and open to the public family-friendly astronomy event.
The evening will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Science Building Room 2.02.02 on the UTSA Main Campus with a lecture, “The Climate and Weather of Mars.” The lecture will be given by Eric Schlegel, the Vaughan Family Endowed Professor in Physics in the UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy.
NASA has designated 2011-2012 as the Year of the Solar System, given the number of missions within our solar system that are currently running or set to launch during that time. In February, the Department of Physics and Astronomy will return to our series of lectures on looking at recent results from NASA’s satellites that are exploring the solar system.
Immediately after the presentation, weather permitting, attendees will have the opportunity to view the night sky using UTSA’s telescopes including a 15-inch telescope and several 8-inch Cassegrain telescopes. Night viewing will be from the fourth floor patio of the Science Building, which is wheelchair accessible. If the sky is clear, attendees may be able to see the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, and Jupiter.
UTSA’s monthly “Friday Nights, Celestial Lights” events began in 2009 as a celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei using a telescope to observe the heavens. Generally scheduled for the third Friday night each month, the series is sponsored by the UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Reservations to attend are not required. To learn more, contact Professor Eric Schlegel at 210-458-6425 or lecturer Mark Jurena at 210-458-4922.
