The MacAdam Student Observatory is a University of Kentucky building located on top of parking garage structure #2 that is used by faculty and students for research and learning.
Our street address is 301 Hilltop Ave., Lexington, KY 40506.

Timothy Knauer, Director
MacAdam Student Observatory
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Email: TimKnauer@uky.edu
Phone (Observatory): (859) 257-5330
Phone (Office): (859) 257-7147

 

 

For AST191/192 students:

The observatory will be open on Wednesday, November 4th. Observing sessions start at 8:00pm, 8:30pm, 9:00pm, and 9:30pm. Students are encouraged to arrive five minutes before the beginning of each session.

 

Really Useful Web Sites:

Astronomy Picture of the Day:  A visually stunning page with a cogent paragraph explaining their daily image.  Their archives go back to June, 1995.

SpaceWeather: Updated every day, the site covers the surface of the Sun, the Solar Wind, Aurora Borealis, Noctilucent Clouds, and information of bright satellite passes over your location. (See Satellite Flybys in the panel on the right.)

Is it going to be clear or cloudy tonight? See Attilla Danko's page for your area. In Lexington, KY,  we use this Clear Sky Chart. Read the top line of the chart, white is cloudy and dark blue is clear skies.


News & Updates

• Kentucky Sky Talk: Bill Brockman November 12, 2009, 7PM Elements of Digital Astrophotography
• What is a Type Ia supernova?  Find out here. Follow the fading light of supernova 2009ig: SN2009 Ver 2009-11-02.pdf
• The Blue Grass Amateur Astronomy Club will hold their first indoor meeting of the season on Friday, November 6th beginning at 8 PM in room 179 of the Chemistry-Physics Building at the University of Kentucky. The speaker is Dan Phelps who will be presenting the topic "Astrobiology and the Precambrian Earth."
• The MacAdam Student Observatory staff are pleased to welcome the public to our facility. We present a program of public outreach on every second Thursday of the month.  A 40-minute presentation on astronomy will begin at 7:00 PM, in Room 155 of the Chemistry-Physics Building, before moving across the street to the observatory, weather permitting. Note that the temperature at the telescope is the same as it is outside. The Observatory is located on Parking Structure #2 on the University of Kentucky campus (Number 618 on this interactive map.)
• Every two years or so, email accounts bristle with messages breathlessly announcing that observing Mars this fall will be a once in a lifetime experience. Observing the night sky is always worthwhile, but the claims are hugely exaggerated, at best. See Mars Hoax Exposed.pdf for the facts on Mars this fall.  

Calendar of Events

DateDate	Time	Speaker	Title
5-Dec-08	7PM	Joe Patterson	Exploding stars and backyard telescopes
11-Dec-08	7PM	Gary Ferland	The 40th anniversary of Apollo: Apollo 8 - humanity's first trip to another world
8-Jan-09	7PM	Tim Knauer	The MacAdam Student Observatory
12-Feb-09	7PM	Keith MacAdam	How to find out what stars are made of
12-Mar-09	7PM	Tom Troland	Heart of Darkness - The Hidden World of Orion
9-Apr-09	8PM	Gary Ferland	Apollo 9 &10 40 th anniversary - how we got to the moon
14-May-09	8PM	Sumit Das	The birth and evolution of our universe
11-Jun-09	8PM	Mike Cavagnero	Star Power: Einstein's Solar Engine
9-Jul-09	8PM	Tim Knauer	Apollo 11 40th Anniversary - the first landing
13-Aug-09	8PM	Rick Schrantz	The Bluegrass Amateur Astronomy Club
10-Sep-09	8PM	Ron Wilhelm	The History of the Milky Way
8-Oct-09	7PM	Tim Knauer	Apollo 40th Anniversary - What We Learned by Going to the Moon
12-Nov-09	7PM	Bill Brockman	Elements of Digital Astrophotography
10-Dec-09	7PM		To be announced