Suresh Atapattu, the education coordinator for the Buehler Planetarium, is excited to tell you that, The Orion nebula is up in our night sky right now! Its very important because its a stellar nursery. Stars are actually being born out of those gases right now. If you look through a telescope, you can see gases, and stars beginning to coalesce. Even with the naked eye, he says, an average person can see fuzzy gray area in Orion where the magic is happening. Appease your inner nerd during the Galaxies show at the planetarium Friday night, where you can also check out the globular cluster M3, which Atapattu says looks like a shotgun blast, or the Alpha Centauri star system, which is a mere four light years away from us. If that doesnt get you revved up, consider this: Its a cheap date, says Atapattu. One of my best friends met his girlfriend there for a first date. Three years into the relationship, theyve gone to south Beach and all that, but she tells me that what impressed her most was that he brought her to have this cosmic experience.
Jan. 6-June 30, 7 p.m.