STEUBEN The Eagle Hill Institute is offering a two-semester astronomy class that qualifies for continuing education units (CEUs) from the University of Maine.

The institute also is offering a viewing of the Orionid Meteor Shower on Oct. 20 with a 5:30 p.m. lecture followed by dinner.

This shower is made possible from the debris left behind from the famous comet known as Halley, said program director Ralph Ballatine. The Earth moves through this debris in the months of April and October.

He said the Orionid meteor shower will peak the mornings of Oct. 20-21 and the best viewing time is midnight to dawn.

The first part of the astronomy course will be held Saturdays from Oct. 6 through Dec. 15 and will offer instruction on the planets, moons and microbodies of the Milky Way.

The second part, which will run Saturdays from Jan. 12 through March 16, will cover the stars and constellations of the universe.

Ballatine formerly was planetarium director at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania and a science instructor at the Owens Science Center in Maryland.

He said the class will include lectures and telescope sessions whereby students go online to look through the lenses of telescopes around the globe.

The class is open to amateur astronomers, teachers, college students and high school students.

In addition to CEUs, students may transfer two credits for each class to a college or university.

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Astronomy Class in Steuben