Astronomy Observatory

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 Spring 2011 Speaker schedule)

• Wednesday, January 5, 8:00 pm
  Dr. Timothy McConnochie on "Weather and Climate of Mars"
  MC: Alex McCormick
  
  
• Thursday, January 20, 8:00 pm
  Megan DeCesar on "Pulsars"
  MC: Anne Lohfink
  
  
• Saturday, February 5, 8:00 pm
  Dr. Demerese Salter on "Weightless Adventures: A Zero-Gravity Laboratory Experiment to Study How Planets Form"
  MC: John Capone
  
  
• Sunday, February 20, 8:00 pm
  Dr. Jerry Bonnell on "Astronomy Picture of the Day"
  MC: Katie Jameson
  
  
• Saturday, March 5, 8:00 pm
  Elizabeth Warner on "Observing the Last Pass of Discovery"
  MC: Alice Olmstead
  
  
• Sunday, March 20, 8:00 pm
  Dr. Leslie Sage on "how astronomy has changed what it means to be human"
  MC: KwangHo Park
  
  
• Tuesday, April 5, 8:00 pm
  Dr. Alex Moiseev on "High Energy Cosmic Ray Electrons: Messengers from Nearby Cosmic Ray Sources or Dark Matter?"
  MC: Hao Gong
  
  
• Wednesday, April 20, 8:00 pm
  Dr. Dennis Bodewits on "Cometary X-rays"
  MC: Che-Yu Chen
  
  

Get a sneak peek at our Summer 2011 schedule!