Staring into the Void @ McCormick Observatory – 10/18

OVERVIEW

Howdy Y’all,

If you don’t know me, I’m Templeton, ODCs resident astronomer. During the school year, I work up at the Observatory and one of the perks of the job is I get a key and can bring people up whenever I want. So, after many weeks of looking for an opportunity, we’re finally going to have clear skies on a night the observatory isn’t being used this Wednesday!

We’ll all gather by Echols (so if you’re going to be late or can’t make it please please text me at 202-916-0560 so we don’t leave anyone behind or spend half an hour waiting for someone who won’t show) at 8:30 pm then walk up O’hill together. Once at the top, we’ll spend an hour or two depending on interest looking through the historic McCormick Telescope (which was one of the biggest in the world when it was built in 1883). In the sky that night we’ll have an excellent view of Saturn guaranteed, and possibly Jupiter as well depending on how late we stay. I also have a list of a dozen star clusters, nebula, and galaxies that we can try to look at, though I have no idea how good they’ll look.

Aside from the telescope, the observatory has a museum with some cool space rocks and exhibits, and if it gets dark enough we might be able to see the Milky Way and do some normal stargazing. Once everyone’s ready to leave (at 10:45 at the latest) we’ll all walk back down O’hill together, then disperse in groups to wherever everyone needs to be so hopefully no one has to walk home on their own, though if needed some of us can hang out at a bus stop or echols until a bus/safe ride comes and gets everyone home safe.

So long as the weather stays on plan, et promises to be a stellar night (though if skies do end up nebulous, we can still do a tour of the observatory), look forward to seeing y’all there!

What I’ll bring:
– A key
– Knowledge of the abyss

What you should bring:
– Layers (it will be cold)
– Water (optional but there is currently no water fountain up there thanks to indefinitely paused renovations)
– Snacks (optional but will make you popular)
– Flashlight (optional as long as you have a charged phone to use its flashlight)
– Star-stuff (required) (it is you)