Two events are coming up this week at UNL:

Ruckman Lecture:
Stars Above, Earth Below: Astronomy in the National Parks
by Dr. Tyler Nordgren (University of Redlands)
Friday, October 2, 7:30pm
City Union Auditorium
promotional flyer (pdf)

Astronomy Education Workshop
Saturday, October 3, 9:00am to 3:30pm
Avery 19, UNL City Campus
workshop agenda (pdf)

We are pleased to welcome Tyler Nordgren (University of Redlands) to present this year's Ruckman Lecture on the subject of astronomy and the national parks. The dark skies of the national parks provide an opportunity to truly appreciate the night sky, and the geological formations at the parks demonstrate processes that occur on other planets. The student observatory will be open to visitors after the talk.

Dr. Nordgren will also take part in the next day's Astronomy Education Workshop – workshop agenda (pdf). If you would like to attend this workshop, please RSVP by emailing sparry3@unl.edu or calling 472-9312.

When: Friday, September 25, 4-5pm
Where: Nebraska Union Auditorium

Ed Prather (University of Arizona) will be talking this Friday about active engagement strategies and how they can improve students' understanding beyond what is achieved by traditional instructional methods. From questioning in the classroom to small group collaborative activities, many forms of interactive teaching will be modeled and discussed.

Dr Prather is the executive director of the Center for Astronomy Education, which develops and conducts research on the effectiveness of learner-centered instructional materials and methods. Complete details can be found on the promotional flyer (pdf).

The 12th Astronomy Education Workshop will be held Saturday, October 3, 2009, 9:00am through 3:30pm. This is a joint meeting with the Nebraska chapter of the AAPT (the N-AAPT business meeting will occur at 3:30).

This workshop will feature Tyler Nordgren (University of Redlands), who will speak about everyday applications of astronomy, and Dale Stille (University of Iowa), who will give a presentation of astronomy related physics demos. Additional information can be found on the workshop homepage.

If you would like to attend this workshop, please RSVP by emailing sparry3@unl.edu or calling 472-9312.

There will be three public nights at Behlen Observatory and four at the Student Observatory during the Fall 2009 semester.

Date	Time	Location
Friday, September 18	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, September 25	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, October 2	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory*
Friday, October 23	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory
Friday, October 30	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, November 13	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Student Observatory
Friday, November 20	7:30 pm to 10:00 pm	Behlen Observatory

*There will also be a public lecture before the October 2 observatory open house.

Directions to Behlen Observatory
UNL Observatories Home

(First time visitors to our site may wish to start by browsing our list of animations.)

Microsoft Research has just released a series of filmed lectures by Richard Feynman on the nature of physical laws. The Silverlight based player allows one to follow the lectures with a transcript, and also presents links to resources at relevant times. The first lecture ("Law of Gravitation") features NAAP's Planetary Orbit Simulator after Feynman discusses Kepler's laws and Newton's interpretation of them.

Microsoft Research is the same group that created WorldWide Telescope, a desktop planetarium program that allows one to navigate and take tours of a multitude of astronomical images.