SCIENCE | Starry Springfield night

University of Illinois Springfield announces the return of their annual Friday Night Star Parties, which will be held, weather permitting, every Friday night during April from 8 to 10 p.m., at UIS Observatory, located off the southeast corner of Brookens Library. The Star Parties are hosted by Dr. John C. Martin, associate professor of astronomy/physics at UIS. Each party begins with a presentation about the galaxies, the sun and the stars. Once guests are on the observation deck, they are welcome to use observatory telescopes to view planets and the constellation. This is an open-house style event. Participants are free to come and go as they please between 8 and 10 p.m. All Star Parties are free and open to the public. Star parties may be canceled due to cloudy or inclement weather. For weather questions, call 206-8342 at 7 p.m. the evening of the Star Party, or check UIS Observatory on Twitter. For more information about Star Parties, visit http://uis.edu.astronomy/about/starparties.html.