Matthew Anderson, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Branched Oak Observatory presented “Bringing the night sky down to earth” at Lincoln South Rotary Club on September 14.
Matthew invited everyone to follow the programs and activities at branchedoakobservatory.com. They have monthly "Star Parties" but people can go out at any time on their own as well. They had a Star-B-Q on September 15 (sorry - we just missed it).
Their programs focus on young kids. In the 4 1/2 years they have been in operation they have had 4500 people visit.
There are multiple telescopes to observe, not only the night sky, but there is also one to observe the sun. They also do launches of high altitude balloons with recording equipment. The balloon bursts at a set altitude and then comes back down and they retrieve the recorded information.
There is no charge to visit the observatory. As a nonprofit organization, they rely on community support.
Location: 14300 NW 98th Street, Raymond, NE, 68428, near Branched Oak Lake.