George Lankford, professor emeritus of social science at Lyon College, Batesville, Ark., Wednesday (Nov. 11) will present his take on an enthno-astronomy view of how American Indian peoples understood the universe with his free, public presentation, "Footprints in the Stars," a 2009 IU College of Arts and Sciences "Evolution, Diversity and Change" Themester event.

Pumpkin-colored Mars will return to prominence during November, rising shortly before midnight at the beginning of the month and more than two hours earlier by month's end. The orange planet will brighten noticeably as it passes the stars of the Beehive cluster.

The Indiana University open house to end all open houses, complete with a perilous bed of nails, streaking rocket cars, imploding oil drums and soda cans ripped apart by magnetic fields, will be brought to you Saturday (Oct. 31) by the IU Departments of Physics and Astronomy.

Three planets will appear close together in the predawn sky in early October. Venus will be the first to rise, coming up two hours before the sun as a dazzling white "morning star" low in the east. Mercury will follow Venus about 45 minutes later. Last to appear will be Saturn, rising about 20 minutes after Mercury as the dawn sky brightens. Saturn will pass close to Mercury first and then Venus as the month advances.

Jupiter will dominate the night sky during September. Glowing low in the southeast as evening twilight fades, it will climb high in the south before midnight and set around the time morning twilight begins. Jupiter's four brightest moons can usually be seen with binoculars, but on the night of Sept. 2-3, all four will be hidden either in front of the planet, behind it or in its shadow. Jupiter will not appear "moonless" again until 2019.

An astronomer who came to Indiana University-Bloomington two years ago to study the formation and evolution of galaxies has received the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award for early career, tenure-track teachers and scholars.

Running with the success of its promotion of the International Year of Astronomy and backed with funding from the Indiana Space Consortium, Indiana University Bloomington's Department of Astronomy will bring its own quiz show, plenty of homemade comets and a 3D experience of Mars to the Indiana State Fair later this week.

Summer's silent fireworks will light up the sky when the annual Perseid meteor shower peaks before dawn on Aug. 12 and 13. This year, the Perseids will compete with the moon, but there will still be many bright streaks in the sky.

Indiana University nuclear physics professor Mike Snow's investigations into the weak interactions of low energy neutrons will advance using equipment funded by the IU Office of the Vice Provost for Research and then put into use at the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

The eastern sky will be crowded before dawn in July. Venus, Mars, the crescent moon and the Hyades and Pleiades star clusters will compete for attention in a series of striking formations. The constellation Taurus the Bull, where all of this will happen, will be hard to recognize.

Black holes are a common scientific discussion topic today -- but to the astrophysicists, theoretical physicists and mathematicians attending Indiana University's Capra Conference on radiation reaction, predictions still outweigh proof when it comes to black holes and their interstellar antics. The conference begins Monday, June 15 and culminates Friday, June 19.

Seven planets will be visible in the night sky during June, led by Jupiter high in the south and Venus low in the southeast. Jupiter will be accompanied by Neptune all month, while Venus and Mars will be close companions.

Research by a theoretical physicist at Indiana University shows that the crusts of neutron stars are 10 billion times stronger than steel or any other of the earth's strongest metal alloys.

They may be traveling through solid rock at about 200 miles per millisecond, but Indiana University's Mark Messier and a team of 180 other physicists hope that by keeping a close eye on those fast-moving neutrinos they may find an answer to one of particle physics' longstanding quandaries: Why do the most elementary particles have the mass that they do?

Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Venus and Mars will all be visible in the night skies of May, though not all at the same time. A meteor shower that lasts about a week will make things even more interesting.

Saturday (May 2) is your chance to stare at the sun with no negative side effects as Indiana University Department of Astronomy's Kirkwood Observatory hosts a public open house where the focus will be on the observatory's solar telescope.

A team led by an Indiana University astronomer has found 15 unique galaxies displaying properties that suggest they may have formed relatively recently. This would run counter to the widely held belief that most large galaxies like the Milky Way started forming shortly after the Big Bang some 12 to 13 billion years ago. Further research into the nature of these objects could open new windows into the study of early galaxy evolution.

Mercury will make its best evening showing of the year during the second half of April, when it will appear near the Pleiades star cluster low in the west-northwest after sunset. On April 9, Mercury will be as bright as the sky's brightest star, Sirius.

The Indiana University Institute for Advanced Study tonight welcomes to the podium astrophysicist Thomas Hartquist, an institute Visiting Fellow from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.

A major goal of the International Year of Astronomy is to educate people about light pollution, and a good way to do that is through an event called the Globe at Night star count. Now in its fourth year, the project has drawn thousands of participants worldwide. This year's count will run from March 16 to March 28.

Indiana University next week kicks off its own celebration of the International Year of Astronomy with three months of events that include a statewide contest for high school students, a public lecture series highlighted by a visiting Nobel laureate and an open house at IU's historic Kirkwood Observatory.

Venus will be at its brightest for the year during February. For several hours after sunset each evening, the dazzling planet will dominate the western sky. On snow-covered ground at a really dark site, you may be able to see your shadow in Venus-light!

The International Year of Astronomy will begin with Mercury and Jupiter next to each other low in the southwest shortly after sunset. Far to their upper left will be Venus, the brightest point of light in the sky. Saturn will rise around midnight and be halfway up the southeastern sky in a couple of hours, when it will be well placed for viewing with a telescope.

The annual Geminid meteor shower, which will reach its maximum on the night of Dec. 13-14, usually offers the best show of the year. But this time the Geminids will peak just a day after full moon, so only the brightest streaks will be visible. Venus and Jupiter will complete a spectacular conjunction low in the southwestern sky after sunset on Dec. 1, when the two planets will be joined by the crescent moon.

Venus and Jupiter, the brightest planets in the sky, will steadily approach each other during November as if drawn by their mutual brillliance. Finally they will have a spectacular encounter low in the southwest at month's end, against the background of the constellation Sagittarius the Archer.