TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s astronomy department will hold a free public sky viewing of nebulae and star clusters at Moundville Archaeological Park on Friday, Oct. 24, from 7-10 p.m.

Dr. Bill Keel, professor of astronomy, will be on hand as guests look through the two telescopes at Moundville. The telescopes are set up on a pad in the field across the road from the museum. The park does not charge after-hours admission for this program.

Guests will be encouraged to find several objects in the night sky. The globular star cluster, M22, is one of the most spectacular globular clusters in the sky. “It is a prominent binocular object, and a naked-eye one under good conditions,” Keel said.

Dumbbell nebula, M27, is bright enough to be a distinct fuzzy spot through binoculars under dark skies. The Flying-Duck star cluster, M11, is impressive for its compactness. Ring nebula, M57, the Andromeda galaxy and Mars also will be visible. After the close view at the end of August, Mars will have receded by more than 50 percent from its minimum distance, but still should show some surface details. The Omega or Swan nebula, M17, is notable for being part of an enormous cloud of molecular gas, the raw material of star formation. The Messier objects may be seen in Keel’s photo gallery, http://www.astr.ua.edu/gallery2t.html.

This is the third public viewing of the spring semester. Contact UA’s department of physics and astronomy at 205/348-5050 to check on sky conditions and for more information. Cloudy conditions are not conducive to star gazing.

The department of physics and astronomy is housed in the College of Arts and Sciences and is the University’s largest division, as well as the largest public liberal arts college in the state, with approximately 5,500 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and the College’s students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 13 Rhodes Scholarships, 14 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships, and 15 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.