Stargazers: Check out the moon and other heavenly bodies on Monday. NASA image.By Adrienne Urban / Staff writer

Frazzled by finals? The Explorers club invites you to leave your earth-bound problems behind and spend a night gazing at the stars.

Join NSNT and the Explorers club Monday, April 16, at 8 p.m. for a stargazing seminar. The seminar will be held, weather permitting, on the Lyceum grounds. There is no need to sign up; simply show up.

“With so much tension about finals, and for the seniors graduating, a little time to look overhead and see where we stand in the cosmos might be a breath of fresh air,” said Todd Brown, visiting assistant professor of physics.

“Stargazing certainly helps to take one’s mind off the pressures of the day and the moment, even if for just a short time,” Mark Stauffer, assistant professor of chemistry, agreed.

Stauffer and Brown will host the event. Stauffer has been involved in astronomy as a hobby for roughly two decades. Brown is an astrophysicist by profession.

The Explorers Club will also be present.

“The explorers are an extension of Boy Scouts but we do not do the traditional outdoor camping programs,” said Tom Horan, advisor for the group. “Explorers are made up of boys and girls between the ages of 14 and 18 and from the Greensburg area. Our post focuses on the area of science.”

Both Stauffer and Brown developed an interest in observing the night sky at a young age as well. Brown was the proud owner of a small refracting telescope by age 10.

At the event there will be a 12-inch telescope on hand. Such a scope will allow students to glimpse galaxies millions of light years away.

NSNT will also provide a set of 20 X 80 binoculars and students are encouraged
to bring along scopes of their own.

Stauffer has been part of several stargazing seminars at UPG in the past. However, as a first year professor, this is Brown’s first time attending an on-campus observation.

“Being from a farm in Illinois with the nearest McDonalds [large city] twenty plus miles of barns and cow pastures away, I would think that UPG will have a lot of spots washed out by the city lights,” Brown said. “But the bright objects will shine through and with some luck we can still make it enjoyable [especially to those that have never looked through a scope].”

Veteran Stauffer has little fear that skyglow will cause problems.

“For observing planets, the moon, most stars below magnitude nine and some of the brighter star clusters and nebulae, the Pitt-Greensburg campus is adequate enough,” Stauffer said.

There will be no focal point for the event but Saturn is prominent this time of year, said Brown.

Both men cite Halley’s comet as pivotal to their own interest in the night sky.

Brown, who was in high school during its last appearance, bought an eight inch reflector in anticipation of the event.

“That was 1986 passage and not the 1910 one,” Brown points out noting that his students might be apt to disagree.

“My interest waned somewhat until I was working as an industrial chemist around the time Halley’s Comet made its last appearance. Then my interest in astronomy returned and is still strong,” Stauffer noted.

They hope the event kindles similar enthusiasm for students and the members of the Explorers club. Plus, it will hone student’s skills for an upcoming cosmic event of another sort.

“It offers the perfect practice for the August 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. First one in the lower 48 [states] since Feb 1979,” Brown said.

Stargazing also has other practical applications.

“There are so many mysteries out there and although many will not lead to the cure for the common cold directly, the skills needed [both equipment wise and theoretically wise] sure can lead to a lot of spin-offs for every day life,” Brown said. “Overcoming problems requires good people honing their skills and astronomy offers so many challenges.”