Public Nights at Gallalee Hall & Moundville Thursday, January 31  -   --  7:00 pm  (Gallalee roof) -- Mars, Comet Tuttle (UA High School Physics Contest)  --  (Gene Byrd) Wednesday, February 20  -  7:30 pm   (Gallalee roof) -- Total lunar eclipse (Ron Buta) Friday, March 7  -  7:00-10:00 pm  (Moundville) -- Star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies (Bill Keel, Ron Buta) Tuesday, April 8  --  7:30 pm  (227 Gallalee) -- public talk:       To be announced ()  --  8:00 pm  -  (Gallalee roof) -- The Moon, Mars, Saturn - (Jack Sulentic) Friends of the Observatory UA Astronomy Group's New Telescope Additional Upcoming Celestial Events More Info about Public Nights: The Astronomy Group within the Department of Physics and Astronomy holds monthly Public Nights. All are welcome to come view the sky through our facilities, on campus and off. Most sessions use the new 16-inch research-grade reflector (just installed in January 2005) in the dome on top of Gallalee Hall, located at the northeast corner of University Blvd. and Hackberry Drive. Our deep-sky observing sessions use the 16" and (recently donated) 17" telescopes located in Moundville Archaeological Park. The telescope is set up on a pad in the field across the road from the museum (see locator map), so parking is available at the museum and near the conference center overlooking the Black Warrior River. (The park does not charge for after-hours admission for these programs). For these events, we also use the new 20-inch "Big Little Telescope" recently donated to the department. Above are the dates for the currently scheduled Public Nights, the starting times for the programs, and the speakers. Note that they sometimes depart from Friday nights, to accomodate special events. For more information, call the Department office at 348-5050 and ask for the faculty member in charge of the date in question. We also ask that you give us advance warning if you are bringing a large group, so we may plan accordingly. We keep an email listing to be notified as new observatory events are scheduled; email Jennifer Hill at hill011@as.ua.edu to be added to the list. Important parking notice for autumn events: Parking restrictions on campus go into effect on the evenings before home football games, including the Gallalee Hall parking lot. Parking is particularly tight on Homecoming weekend. Note that the UA CrimsonRide transit system is now operating and keeps going late into the night - see crimsonride.ua.edu for details. For additional skygazing opportunities in the Birmingham area, please see the Birmingham Astronomical Society schedule. Weather information specifically tailored to astronomical observing is available in the clear sky clock for Tuscaloosa generated using forecasts from the Canadian Meteorology Centre.

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