I used to volunteer at the Public Observatory at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. Yes, there is an observatory right in the middle of D.C.! It is a little dome right next to the National Air and Space Museum and I definitely recommend it as a must see if you are ever in D.C. I still hear from them every once in awhile and I thought I would share their work with you all.
The normal public hours for the observatory are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM, Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM, closed Mondays and Sundays. These hours may vary depending on weather (and closed if it's overcast/raining) and occasionally they do night activities.
Since this is open to the public during the day, what you are going to see is the Sun. And boy do you get a great look at it. They have even been kind enough to upload images that they have taken to share with the world. In addition to that, not everyone can make it to D.C., but with the awesomeness of todays technology, they are experimenting with streaming live video of the view through their telescopes, using Ustream. Mostly they show the Sun through the 100mm H-alpha telescope. But it is only available during observatory hours.
Most of the people who make the observatory work are volunteers, so if you ever do make it to the observatory, please thank them for all of their hard work and dedication!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
D.C.'s Public Observatory
4:30 PM
Astronomy Pirate
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14 comments:
This sounds fun to check out. I'll have to see if Chicago has something like it.
Good to know!
what an opportunity nice!
I love the way modern technology means this stuff can be shared around the world!
Sounds like a pretty awesome place to volunteer!
Cool, i always wanted to be an astronomer did i told you? but maths and physics was to much and scrambled my brain.
ive been wanting to go to the Smithsonian museums for quite some time now.
That's really cool that you volunteered there.
I really respect people who educate the public. Maybe the observatory will help people get over the antiquated notion of heaven and hell.
kudos on the volunteers and thanks for the link!
That's fantastic. I wonder what the sun looks like through a webstream.
I've been to this place, it's awesome!
Dang! I dont live in DC!
Awesome, thanks for the link
sounds good but way to far away from me
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