This month, Mike Thomas will talk about Civilization and the History of Aviation at Western Nevada Colleges Jack C. Davis Observatory.

On Friday, Dec. 13, his Civilization presentation will cover startling new archaeological discoveries that have changed our understanding of early humans.

Thomas will cover the first aviation attempts to the exploration of space in his presentation History of Aviation on Saturday, Dec. 14. Both presentations are free and begin at 6:30 p.m. Doors to JCDO open at 6 p.m.

Thomas has been providing free lectures at Jack C. Davis Observatory as part of his Northern Nevada lecture series for more than a decade. Last February, Thomas began giving two presentations per month at WNC. His Friday talks are usually about history and his Saturday presentations customarily focus on science.

On Saturday nights when lectures arent scheduled, the observatory is open to the public from sundown to 11 p.m. At this time, the Western Nevada Astronomical SocietyhostsStar Parties, bringing together people with an interest in astronomy.

The lectures and Star Parties are free and open to the public. The observatory is located at 2699 Vanpatten Drive in Carson City.