We often get requests for filming at the observatory. If you are:

tv news

If you would like to interview either Elizabeth Warner or some other Astronomy faculty member at the UMD Astronomy Observatory about an upcoming or recent celestial event, you need to call or email me as soon as possible to coordinate times to film at the observatory. We will try to accommodate short notice requests, but some of us are part-time and don't live near campus to be here immediately.

  • These are 'free' although a donation to the observatory would be greatly appreciated so that we can maintain the awesome equipment that gives those interesting backdrops.
  • Call Elizabeth at 301-405-6555 AND email Elizabeth. Without going into gory details, the schedule is flexible enough that we will try to handle short notice requests, but the more lead time (ie, calling the day before to arrange a meeting the next day) is better than trying to call early in the morning for a meeting the same morning.
  • Elizabeth does 'amateur' observing and can answer most questions related to observing stuff in the night sky. However, for other topics, you should arrange for another astronomer from our department or expert from the university.

non-news, documentary

The University has some guidelines that should be reviewed, but if you are interviewing University of Maryland faculty, then it's free, but if you want to interview someone not affiliated with the university and just want to use the Astronomy Observatory as a backdrop, then there is a fee. If you are not sure, you should contact Media Request. Once you've figured that part out, you still need to fill out a form and at this point you should call 301-405-6555 and/or email Elizabeth Warner to schedule potential filming dates because you'll need that info for the form!

university students

There's a form for university students as well on the guidelines page...

K-12 students

Call 301-405-6555 and/or email Elizabeth.