Icon viewers are invited to the ONU Observatory on Friday, March 9, from 8-10 p.m. for a program titled "Stardeath: supernovae and their remnants."

According to Dr. Jason Pinkney,  professor of physics and astronomy and manger of the ONU Observatory, "Stars meet their death in a variety of ways which depends mostly on their mass.  Most massive stars end in spectacular explosions called supernovae.

"Those which occur in our Milky Way galaxy can outshine Venus for a month or more."

More about Friday's program:
Stars leave behind expanding gas clouds which glow faintly in visible wavelengths for thousands of years. It turns out that SNRs (supernova remnants) would seem much brighter if our eyes saw in radio or X-rays.

Visitors will take a look at a few SNRs that are visible in a telescope: the Crab Nebula and the Jellyfish Nebula. 

We may also glimpse the galaxy NGC 3941 currently undergoing a supernova.  Low to middleweight stars like the Sun are not quite as explosive in death, but they still "puff out" their outer shells to form a beautiful "planetary nebula."  We will also observe examples of these nebulae including the "Cat's Eye Nebula" and the "Little Dumbbell."

This event will be canceled if excessively cloudy skies are in the forecast. Check this web site on Friday afternoon (after 2 p.m.) before the event for cancellations:
http://www2.onu.edu/~j-pinkney/astro/publicevents.html