Western Nevada College’s Jack C. Davis Observatory star parties have started again for community members interested in peeking out into the cosmos. Hosted by Dr. Thomas Herring and Mike Thomas, the parties officially kicked off again for the first time post-pandemic on July 3. Thomas will be offering his first lecture this Saturday, the first since March 2020. Herring said the lecture series will cover various science and engineering topics and runs on the third Saturday of each month. “We're very happy to be back connecting with the community and sharing our enthusiasm for astronomy and science in general,” Herring said. The observatory, located at 2269 Vanpatten Ave., offers interior and exterior telescopes for students and the public to use to examine the moon, stars and planets and to learn more about scientific and technological developments with the assistance of the staff. Herring said the star parties remain weather dependent and begin at 7:30 p.m. and begin with guided viewings. For information, contact Thomas at mnethomas@sbcglobal.net or Herring at Thomas.Herring@wnc.edu. Lecture topics have included Alexander the Great, a Tour of the Universe, “Star Trek,” the Trojan War, Hubble Space Telescope images, Galileo the Astronomer, Isaac Newton, “2001: A Space Odyssey, Jack C. Davis Observatory astrophotography, Flash Gordon, 2012, NASA –Project Mercury, Leonardo da Vinci and “Wyatt Earp, the Legend.”
