KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Taylor Observatory docent and Lake County teacher Janis Traub will speak about earth’s very own star at the Taylor Observatory’s monthly public night event on Saturday, May 24, at 8 p.m.

The Taylor Observatory is at 5725 Oak Hills Lane in Kelseyville.

In “What’s Up with the Sun,” Traub will discuss the science of our nearest, favorite and most important star.  

Only 150 years ago few people had any inkling that solar events had influence on the earth’s environment.  

In the 1860s English scientist Michael Carrington first suggested that solar storms could disrupt long distance communication on Earth, sometimes disabling the newly invented Morse Code telegraphy.  

At that time such ideas were controversial and often ridiculed. In 2014, we know better.  

Currently, coronal mass ejections from the sun pose a huge threat to the multi-billion dollar communications industry on the earth.

Traub will discuss these aspects of the sun and many more interesting facts that astronomers have learned in the 150 years since the Carrington investigations.

Public nights at the Taylor Observatory include a lecture, a planetarium show and, weather permitting, astronomical viewing through the observatory’s several telescopes.

Friends of the Taylor Observatory sponsors the 2014 Taylor lecture series.

Those who arrive a few minutes early on Saturday may be able to view the sun through the observatory’s solar telescope.  

Admission is $5 for adults and $3.00 for children under 12.  

More information is available at www.taylorobservatory.org .  

Messages can be left at 707-262-4121.