Previous abstract Next abstract The Lake Afton Public
Observatory was founded 14 years ago as a joint project of the
city, county, local schools, and Wichita State University to
provide educational programs for the public and school children.
A staff of 4 professional astronomers presents daytime and
evening programs at the Observatory and makes presentations in
schools to over 20,000 people per year. Programs are scheduled 6
days a week during the academic year and 3 days a week in the
summer. Our public programs deviate significantly from the
traditional observatory open house by following a specific
theme. Selection and discussion of each object is centered on
that theme. For example, a program on The Life Story of a Star
would view a diffuse nebula (to discuss star formation), a young
star cluster (to discuss one outcome of star formation), a
double star (to discuss how the properties of stars are
determined), and a planetary nebula (to discuss the death of a
star). To complement the observing experiences