The Department of Astronomy at the University of Maryland, College Park hosts Open Houses at the UMD Observatory on the 5th and the 20th of every month. On Open House evenings a guest speaker will give approximately a half hour talk about a topic in astronomy. The talk is followed by viewing of celestial objects through the observatory's telescopes, weather permitting. If weather does not permit viewing, the talk will still go on as scheduled.

Upcoming Speakers

  • Friday, May 5, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Hayes-Gehrke/A315 Students on "Asteroid Rotation Period Results from ASTR 315 Student Research"
    MC: Chongchong He

  • Saturday, May 20, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Miguel A. Requena Torres on "Sofia, The Stratospheric Observatory. 7 years flying. "
    MC: Amy Steele

  • Monday, June 5, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Sylvain Veilleux on "Quasars and Supermassive Black Holes"
    MC: Laura Lenkic

  • Tuesday, June 20, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Matthew Knight on "UMD Science with the Discovery Channel Telescope and Our Longstanding Ties to Lowell Observatory"
    MC: Arnab Dhabal

  • Wednesday, July 5, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Brian Hicks on "Kiloscopes!"
    MC: Blake Hartley

  • Thursday, July 20, 9:00 pm
    Ashlee Wilkins on "Alien Atmospheres Near and Far"
    MC: Thomas Rimlinger

  • Saturday, August 5, 9:00 pm
    Elizabeth Warner on "Solar Eclipse 2017: What to Expect Here in Maryland"
    MC: Mahmuda Afrin Badhan

  • Sunday, August 20, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Li-Jen Chen on "Magnetic explosions at our home planet and accreting black holes"
    MC: Johnny VanLandingham

Get a sneak peek at our Fall/Winter 2017 schedule!