For those of you who want to hang out with amateur astronomer Dan Neal and look at other deep space things, there are opportunities tonight and Sunday. Neal will be bringing along telescopes from Southwestern Oregon Community College's collection to each event so people can see Jupiter and other objects. He also encourages people to bring their own telescopes, particularly if they don't know how to use them.

Here's the schedule:

€ Tonight: At 8 o'clock, Neal will be at Bullards Beach State Park in the amphitheater presenting a talk. The park is north of Bandon.

€ Sunday: At 9:30 p.m., Neal and other amateur astronomers will be at the overlook on the Coos Bay North Spit. To get there, head three miles out TransPacific Lane from U.S. Highway 101. Watch for two large red reflectors on a 4-by-4 sign. That's the overlook entry.

Pine Mountain Observatory

For hardcore stargazers, there is a good weekend opportunity in Eastern Oregon, too. Better than just sitting on the high desert, some folks are heading to the Pine Mountain Observatory east of Bend. (Take Highway 20 east toward Burns. Just past milepost 26, near the Millican store, turn right onto the dirt road and drive about eight miles.)

The observatory will be open tonight and Sunday night, plus the mountain itself is tall, offering nice views of the sky without any lights from civilization. Visitors will be able to look through the 24-inch and 18-inch mirror diameter telescopes at a variety of nebulas (clouds of dust and gas) and clusters of stars, which some folks call fuzzies, within the Milky Way Galaxy, along with a number of other galaxies.

Future meteor shows

For those stargazers who don't want to miss any other meteor opportunities, there are more meteor showers expected over the next 12 months. Here is the schedule:

€ Oct. 8: Draconid meteors

€ Oct. 21: Orionid meteors

€ Nov. 4: Taurid meteors

€ Nov. 17: Leonid meteors

€ Dec. 13: Geminid meteors

€ Jan. 3: Quadrantid meteors

€ April 21: Lyrid meteors

€ May 3: Eta Aquarid meteors

€ July 26: Delta Aquarid meteors

Just a footnote, the Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory's public outreach coordinator, Rick Kang, said there's a chance - no guarantees - there might be a brief burst of a meteor storm Sept. 1. That's when several hundred to several thousand meteors could zip into the sky per minute, he said.

The West Coast is the place to be to see it. The Aurigid meteors are the dust trail from the comet C/1911 N1 or Comet Keiss that passed by in 1911. According to NASA predictions, the storm might occur around 4:36 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time and last up to 20 minutes. Despite an anticipated bright moon, astronomers say the meteors will be brilliant enough to see.

On the Net

httpL//leonid.arc.nasa.gov

http://www.astronomy.com