Nov 17, 2022: Open House turns into Eclipse Night

Michael Richmond
Nov 18, 2023

We scheduled an Open House at the RIT Observatory for Nov 17, 2023, planning to show visitors the planets Jupiter and Saturn through our telescopes. About four days before the event, however, the weather forecasts made it clear that this wouldn't work: clouds and rain would prevent us from doing any observing. Rats.

Therefore, we offered people a chance to learn about the upcoming total solar eclipse of April 8, 2024 -- and a little more. The central feature was a lecture on solar eclipses in general, with a focus on the upcoming event.

• Lecture on solar eclipses

After the lecture, visitors could go to three stations for some hands-on activities:

• look through a reflecting telescope and try to read a distant sign
• look through a refracting telescope at a (picture of) a planet
• view emission-line spectra of different elements and try to identify the mystery substances

Our brave crew of volunteers welcomed our visitors and led them through the activities. Thanks very much to (in reverse alphabetical order)

       Ryan Wills         Myrra Small       Joey Root
       Taylor Paul        DJ Klyde          Kevin Kearney
       Katelynn Fleming   Jayden Butler     Edwin Alexani