PHY/AST Observing Resources by Dr. S.
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Observing opportunities will be held occasionally. Attendance
is not mandatory, but you will receive extra credit for participating.
Weather
Any dates/times published are weather-dependent.
- If it is perfectly clear, observing will be held.
- If it is completely cloudy, rainy, snowy, observing will not
happen.
- For in-between days and nights, pay attention to announcements via e-mail or
D2L.
I will try to put cancellation notices on the course website as soon
as a decision has been reached.
Place
The sessions will all be held on the roof of Cowley Hall.
Go up the stairwell next to Cowley Hall 420 (2 floors above lab room 220).
There's a metal grate at this doorway. Once on the roof, be careful,
since it will be dark, and stay on the metal pathways.
Times
Evening Observing will typically occur beginning 30 min to 1 hour after sunset,
and continue for 1 to 1.5 hours. Daytime solar observing as announced.
Resources for Planning
For weather predictions, you can try
For solar observing, we need sunspots or prominences:
- Sunspot Activity
- Spaceweather.com (Links to recent
sunspot images, often highlights interesting prominences, aurora activity, etc.)
- SOHO
(Most recent continuum image showing sunspot activity)
- Images of Prominences: Note that we can only see strong
prominences from the rooftop
For evening observing, it is nice to know what satellites might pass over, which
moons of Jupiter and Saturn are visible, and what constellations are where.
Other Local Observing Opportunities
La Crosse Area Astronomical Society and their
laxastro Yahoo Group
La Crosse Clear Sky Clock