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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 7, 1989)
prairie Astronomers keep their hobby simple By Mark Lage Senior Reporter Prairie Astronomers, a Lincoln astronomy club, tries “to keep it simple,” said Hon Debus, a mem ber of the club and an auto painter at Meginnis Ford. "When you go into great detail, or use big long words and explana tions, >ou lose a lot of us,” Debus said of the club. So with its aim toward simple, straightforward astronomy, the Prairie Astronomers has been in existence since I960, and now is about 70 members strong. The group meets twice a month. The monthly meeting is the last Tuesday of every month at the Hyde Memorial Observatory at Holmes Park. One half-hour of each meeting is devoted to busi ness. Debus said, and a program follows that generally lasts from a half-hour to an hour. Slide shows, member presenta tions of special projects and guest lectures by University of Nebraska Lincoln professors are included in the program, Debus said. Topics normally deal strictly with astron omy, but also can include rockets, space launches, and other aspects of the space program, such as the recent Voyager 2 encounter with Neptune, he said. “We had a program on the Challenger disaster,” Debus said, "which is not really astronomy, but it still applies to us.” Debus stressed that the group tries to keep the program less than an hour in length. “We try to keep peoples’ full attention,” he said. “If you keep it short and sweet, people don’t get bored.” In addition to the club meeting, the group gathers on a moonless I riday night each month at an observation point 30 miles south of Lincoln, Debus said. I he combina tion of moonless sky and distance from city lights greatly enhances the visibility of the night sky for observation. Outside of club meetings, l,, ' . ' ' i mmm % $ ^ members of the Prairie Astrono mers do a great deal of volunteer work, Debus said. “We do a lot of volunteer work at the I lyde Observatory, which is run strictly by volunteers,” Debus said. The observatory is open to the public on Saturdays from sun set until 11 p.m. Also, two or three group mem bers occasionally will get together and prepare presentations for school groups or local scout groups, Debus said. Debus himself has given school presentations on a 10-foot reflector telescope he built himself. He also has given programs on the build ing of it and then uses it to show groups of children and adults the deep sky from Hyde Observatory. Debus said his personal high light as a member of the Prairie Astronomers was the recent period of time in which Halley’s comet was visible. “1 spent more time at Hyde for Halley, observing and doing vol unteer work, than for anything else,” he said. The group did not have an offi cial meeting for the recent lunar mm i i mm ■ eclipse, but Debus said he and five others gathered at the observatory to watch it, and he was sure that nearly all of the other group mem bers watched it at home. “It was tremendous,” he said. Debussaid he knows of no such highlights coming up in the imme diate future. “There will be some eclipses coming up in 1991 and 1992, but I’m not sure if they will be visible here,” he said. For anyone interested in em barking on a “career” as an ama teur astronomer, Debus has one simple piece of advice: “Join your local astronomy club.” “If you’re really interested, then you’ll want to either buy or build your own telescope,” he said. “And by being in a club you learn so much more about what you want in a telescope, and you can save a lot of time and money.” Anyone with an interest can join Prairie Astronomers, and to do so one simply needs to attend the monthly club meeting at Hyde, Debus said. The meeting is free, and interested but unsure people can attend several meetings with out joining, he added. “Out of all the people who end up joining, half join up right after their first meeting,” Debus said. “The rest take a little longer.” 'If you 're really interested (in becom ing an astronomer), then you 'll want to either buy or build your own tele scope. And by being in a club you learn so much more about what you want in a telescope, and you can save a lot of time and money.' —Debus ^NEEDCASH?| Highest $ paid for used records, cassettes Jk compact discs! 14th & 0 St East Park Plaza I 477-6061 464-8275_g Free Parking After 5 at Reservations 132 S. 13th Security Federal, 14th & N Accepted 477-5122 COOKIE HAPPY HOUR! THURSDAY NIGHTS 3 Cookies for $1.00 8-10 PM Limit 3 Cookies per person! 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