The Rice Campus Observatory is used primarily as a teaching facility for undergraduate education. Classes which make use of the observatory include Astr 201: Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe and Astr 202: Exploration of the Solar System, both introductory classes for non-science majors; Astr 221: Observing the Night Sky, a new lab class for students in all academic programs; and Astr 230: Astronomy Lab, the primary course for Astronomy majors and others to learn to use a research calibre telescope and equipment including spectrometers and CCD imagers. Students in Astr 230 also learn advanced image processing techniques such as IRAF which they use on data taken at the campus observatory to do a final research project.
Observatory Location:
The
November/December Open Houses: èTotal Lunar Eclipse Night – Saturday,
Nov 8th!
WEATHER UPDATE:
There will be a total eclipse
of the moon early Saturday evening with the totality period from
Detailed information on this lunar eclipse: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/lunar_eclipse_2_031031.html
Mars made its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years in late August. As November approaches, it is smaller and fainter, but higher in the southern sky in the early evening, compared to its closest in August. So, it is still worth viewing through a telescope. Check below for the currently scheduled public viewing nights. In addition to Mars, views of binary stars, nebulae, and other celestial objects will be had. Come out and join us.
Fees: Unless specifically noted as Rice only above, the open houses are available to anyone. Aside from parking described above, there is no fee to attend the observatory open house.
Note on Times and Weather: In early November it gets dark enough to observe around 6:30 pm STANDARD TIME. Mars is still giving a good view, so we will be pointing the large telescope there. On public nights, visitors must sign in at a check-in table set up in the parking lot to look through the large telescope in the dome. In addition to this telescope, there will be 2-3 or more smaller telescopes set up in the parking lot for viewing. These smaller telescopes do not require sign in. Our experience has been that the large telescope is able to see Mars and the Moon well through thin clouds, and if it is clear we get good views from the smaller portable scopes as well. When the Moon is out, we will get some wonderful resolution with all the telescopes. As many of you may know, Mars was closer to Earth this August than it has at any time in the past 60,000 years. However, as of early November it still appears 2/3 as large as it did on the night of closest approach.
If you have small children, (i.e., less than about 7 years old, we recommend that they use the telescopes set up in the parking lot. The wait to see through these telescopes is much shorter than for the telescope in the dome, and small children are rarely able to discern any more detail through the large telescope. The Moon is probably the ideal target for children, as it is bright and easy to see.
On public nights the observatory will open at about 7:00 pm and will stay open until at least 10:00 pm (see the schedule for specific times). If there is still a crowd at closing time, the observer can remain to accomodate people still signed in, but we also need to go home eventually. If you are not present when your group is called, there is not guarantee you will be able to look through the large telescope.
Houston is plagued by poor weather much of the time. On the nights of the observatory open houses, check back here between 7 and 8 pm or later to make sure it will not be cancelled due to clouds. If it is raining, the observatory will be closed.
For more information about astronomy and space science at Rice please refer
to our research pages
and our course
listings. Additional space-related events of interest to the public
can be found on the Rice Space Institute
home page.
Special Reserved Nights
Sun-Fri Oct 26-31 and Sun-Tue Nov 2-4 TV Astronomy projects (Dufour)
Weather Links:
Open House Schedules in Previous Months:
November 2003:
· Saturday, November 1, 7-10PM CST (Johns-Krull and Reiff)
October 2003:
September 2003:
August 2003:
June 2003:
May 2003:
April 2003:
March 2003:
February 2003:
Sunday, Feb 23rd; 7-10PM - Dufour - Telescope operation for interested undergraduates.
Authorized users can send email to
rjd@rice.edu to get put on the observatory
schedule.
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Department of Physics & Astronomy - MS 61, Rice University, 6100 Main
Street, Houston, TX 77005-1892
Office: 713-348-4938 Fax:713-348-4150 physics@rice.edu