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 2018 Speaker schedule)

  • Friday, January 5, 8:00 pm
    Elizabeth Warner on "2018 Observing Highlights"
    MC: Milena Crnogorcevic

  • Saturday, January 20, 8:00 pm
    Dr. Mike Corcoran on "How massive can stars be?"
    MC: Sara Frederick

  • Monday, February 5, 8:00 pm
    Dr. Suvi Gezari on "Watching the Explosive Universe in Action"
    MC: Ginny Cunningham

  • Tuesday, February 20, 8:00 pm
    Alice Allen on "Daytime Sky Phenomena"
    MC: Laura Lenkic

  • Monday, March 5, 8:00 pm
    Dr. Jessica Sunshine on "Recycling Crustal Bits on Earth and Europa"
    MC: Carrie Holt

  • Tuesday, March 20, 8:00 pm
    Elizabeth Warner on "The Spring Sky"
    MC: Tomas Ahumada

  • Thursday, April 5, 8:00 pm
    Dr. Brian Hicks on "Directly Imaged Exoplanets"
    MC: Rebecca Levy

  • Friday, April 20, 8:00 pm
    Dr. Kathleen Mandt on "The Rosetta Mission to Orbit and Land on a Comet"
    MC: Chongchong He