Sunday Afternoons Summer and Fall 2008

Dates : TBD

Summer and Fall Observatory Tours

Free observatory tour at the Oliver Observing Station - See MIRA's 36-inch professional research telescope, learn some of the unique history that led to MIRA and the Oliver Observing Station (now in its 23rd year), and discover how our mountaintop scientific research runs on solar and wind power and collected rainwater.

Voted the best place to watch the stars in Monterey County, the Oliver Observing Station on Chews Ridge is actually one of the best places in the continental U.S. for optical astronomy. High in the Santa Lucia Mountains, an afternoon on Chews Ridge also provides excellent views of the Ventana Wilderness, the Salinas Valley, the Monterey Peninsula , and, on a clear day, the Sierra Nevada.

Tassajara Road in Carmel Valley. Please call 883-1000 to make reservations and get directions.

Thursdays

2:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Richard Hamming Astronomy Center

March 27 - May 18

Decoding the Mysteries of the Universe

MIRA astronomers will give a series of eight lectures on a Universe stranger than we could have imagined 20- years ago. Black holes, dark matter, extra-solar planets, the birth and death of stars and galaxies, and gravitational lenses are but a few of the amazing discoveries in recent decades. MIRA astronomers are searching for that one of thousands of asteroids that may strike the earth and finding hints in distant stars that the sun may suddenly experience a super-flare.

Join our research astronomers for an intimate, inside look into our current understanding of the Universe and how we've learned it. The final class is a daytime trip to the Oliver Observing Station where alternative energy sources power state-of-the-art instruments probing the secrets of the Universe.

Offered through Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (831) 582-5500 or call MIRA at (831) 883-1000 for details.

Adults, age 50 and better, can sign up for these classes at olli.csumb.edu.

Summer

MIRA Summer Intern Program

MIRA accepts three to four students for an summer intern program in astronomy. Students work on a one-on-one basis with professional astronomers on current research topics such as star formation, gravitational lenses, small solar system bodies, and instrumentation. While most work is at the Marina campus, observing trips to the Oliver Observing Station are part of the program.

Interns are advanced high school students and college students; applications are accepted in March and April but available positions are filled as students are accepted. Call at 883-1000 or e-mail mira at mira dot org for more information.

The high school student Intern Program is supported in part by the the William McCaskey Chapman & Adaline Dinsmore Chapman Foundation and the Friends of MIRA.

four sessions

May 30 through August 23

Richard Hamming Astronomy Center,

Garland Ranch Regional Park,

Oliver Observing Station

The Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy offers four classes in Monterey Skies:

The most dramatic telescopic object in the sky is the giant planet, Saturn.  Brian Jacobson, MIRA docent, will give a tour of the multi-ringed leviathan at the Richard Hamming Astronomy Center in Marina.  The class will include an illustrated lecture of the fascinating complexities of the ring system discovered by recent spacecraft and a viewing of the planet through the Weaver Student Observatory Telescope. 

The 2-hour class will start at 8 pm on Friday, 30 May, at 200 Eighth Street, Marina.  Bring warm clothes for the telescope viewing.

MIRA astronomer Dr. Bruce Weaver will discuss Light and Color in the Open Air at the Garland Ranch Regional Park Ranger Center.  Why is the sky blue?  How do we see the ‘dark side’ of the moon?  Sun dogs, green flashes, Zodiacal Light, rings around the moon, and why the sky is dark (but not too dark) will be discussed.  The class will include a slide presentation and viewing of the very young moon, twilight, and the night sky with the unaided eye.

The 2-hour class will start at 8:30 pm on Saturday, 5 July, at the Garland Ranch Regional Park Ranger Center.  Much of the class will be outside, so bring warm clothes.

MIRA docent Dr. Jim Eagle will provide a Guide to the Constellations at Garland Ranch Regional Park.  Beyond finding the famous and not-so-famous in the summer night sky, Jim will point out the biggest stars, the red giants, and the yellow dwarfs.  How does he know which is which?  He’ll disclose those astronomical secrets as he maps the night sky with his green laser.

The 2-hour class will start at 8:30 pm onFriday, 1 August, at the Garland Ranch Regional Park.  Much of the class will be outside, so bring warm clothes.

MIRA astronomer Dr. Arthur Babcock will lead a tour of the Oliver Observing Station atop Chews Ridge in the Los Padres National Forest.  A slide presentation of the history of MIRA will start a tour of the self-sufficient research observatory with its wind turbine and solar cell energy sources, remote weather station, and water capture system.  A detailed tour of the research telescope and its modern instruments will be the backdrop for a discussion of the state-of-the-art astronomical research at this unique facility.

Vans will leave at 1 pm on Saturday, 23 August, from the Garland Ranch Regional Park Ranger Center.  Vans are scheduled to return at 5:30pm.  Weather is unpredictable and the temperature can range between 60 and 90 degrees.  Expect a bit of walking and two flights of stairs.

This program is offered through the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District (831) - 372-3196 or www.mprpd.org or contact MIRA for information.