Solar Observing Session

FALL 2019

Solar observing sessions will be held in the late morning/early afternoon for one week at the Campus Observatory, southeast of Foellinger Auditorium. Observing will take place in the Observatory Dome using the 12-inch telescope with specially-designed filters. These filters block 99.999% of the sunlight and make it safe to observe the Sun. Astronomy Department personnel will be present to operate and explain the telescope and the solar phenomena being viewed. Freely ask questions and sketch what you see.

DATES & TIMES

The scheduled dates & times for solar observing are listed below. Note that the start time has been changed to 11:30am.

  • Monday, November 4, 11:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Tuesday, November 5, 11:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Wednesday, November 6, 11:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Thursday, November 7, 11:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Monday, November 11, 9:00am - 2:30 pm
  • Tuesday, November 12, 10:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Wednesday, November 13, 11:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Thursday, November 14, 10:30am - 2:30 pm
  • Friday, November 15, 11:30am - 2:30 pm

You may arrive when you wish, but be sure to allow approximately 20-30 minutes complete the observations before the end of session.

All are welcome to look through the telescopes, including your friends.

WEATHER-RELATED CANCELLATIONS

Observing can be done only if the sky is clear. Sometimes it will be clear an hour before a session is to start, only to cloud over in the next hour. At other times the sky is cloudy at the time we want to open the observatory and it clears up after the TAs have left. It is obvious to say that the professors and TAs who are involved cannot control the weather, but we try to cope with the circumstances as best we can.

Also, if the temperature is under 20 F, the session will be cancelled.

Subscribe to the Solar Observing Session Status Update Blog below to receive notifications when a session is canceled due to weather conditions.

SOLAR OBSERVING SESSION STATUS UPDATES

Updates for scheduled solar observing sessions, including weather-related cancellations, will be posted to the Astronomy Solar Observing Session Status Update Blog.

You can subscribe to the blog to get updates sent to you automatically!

The latest status updates will also be posted on this page.

Post to the Observing Session Status Update Blog (Staff only).