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

(download a copy of the Summer 2010 Speaker schedule)

  • Wed, May 5, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Hannah Jang-Condell on "Forming Exoplanets"
    MC: Holly Sheets

  • Thu, May 20, 9:00 pm
    Mia Bovill on "Larry, Mo and Curly's History of the Universe"
    MC: Steve Schwartz

  • Sat, June 5, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Tamara Bogdanovic on "Black Holes as Multitaskers of the Universe"
    MC: KwangHo Park

  • Sun, June 20, 8:00 pm in English, 9:00 pm en Español
    Rodrigo Herrera Camus on "The Invisible Universe / El Universo Invisible"
    MC: Megan DeCesar

    NOTE: New grad student Rodrigo will give his presentation twice -- first in English at 8pm and then in Spanish at 9pm!

    NOTA: Nuevo estudiante graduado dictará la charla dos veces, la primera en Inglés a las 8pm y la segunda en Español a las 9pm!

  • Mon, July 5, 9:00 pm
    Elizabeth Warner on "Observing in Puerto Rico"
    MC: Jamie Cohen

  • Tue, July 20, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Margaret Trippe on "Measuring the Spin of Supermassive Black Holes"
    MC: Dheeraj Pasham

  • Thu, August 5, 9:00 pm
    Dr. John Hewitt, GSFC on "Postcards from the Galactic Center"
    MC: Daniel Jontof-Hutter

  • Fri, August 20, 9:00 pm
    Dr. Nelly Mouawad on "Mercury as seen by MESSENGER"
    MC: Alan Gersch

Get a sneak peek at our Fall/Winter 2010 schedule!