Come and see one of nature's wonders - a solar eclipse - at the UCI Observatory! The eclipse lasts from 5:25 to 7:43 pm. At the maxiumum of the eclipse, which occurs at 6:38 pm, approximately 85% of the Sun will be covered by the Moon. (Some Northern California residents will be treated to a full annular eclipse.) In addition, use our telescopes to see sunspots and solar flares on the surface of the Sun, learn about the Sun, and take a tour of a scale-model Solar System.

Visitor Nights are open to the public so feel free to forward this message along to friends and neighbors who may be interested. Visitor Nights are free of charge, although we ask for a voluntary $5 donation per family to help defray the costs. No reservations are required. They are fun for the entire family -- children, teens, parents and grandparents. We heartily encourage amateur astronomers to bring along their own telescopes to share with our visitors.

The Observatory is located on the campus of the University of California, Irvine. Driving and parking directions can be found at http://www.physics.uci.edu/~observat/visnite_driving_directions.html. Visitors should park in the new East Campus Parking Structure at the corner of California Ave. and Adobe Circle Rd. South, which is located next to the Anteater Recreation Center (ARC) and labeled building #88 on the campus map found at http://www.uci.edu/campus_maps.php. That website also provides larger scale maps and directions from the freeways to campus. An parking fee of $2/hr or $8 maximum must be paid at the parking structure. Unlike normal Visitor Nights, there will be no shuttle bus for this day-time event. Visitors should walk up the hill to the intersection of California Ave. and Gabrielino Dr. and take a left on the gravel road that leads to the Observatory. This walk takes approximately 15 minutes. Note that parking is not allowed on the streets in the University Hills neighborhood where the Observatory is located. Only cars transporting telescope equipment or a handicapped person will be permitted to drive on the road leading out to the Observatory for safety reasons. If you are, follow the driving directions listed here.

Only in the event of rain will Visitor Night be canceled and if so then a cancellation notice will be posted on our website by 2 pm that day. However, if it is cloudy but not raining, our event will go on and you can still tour the Observatory dome and ask questions of the astronomers.

The UCI Observatory is operated by the Department of Physics & Astronomy, and Visitor Nights are funded by the School of Physical Sciences. For more information on the Observatory, see our website at http://www.physics.uci.edu/~observat .  A poster advertising Visitor Night can be found at http://www.physics.uci.edu/~observat/#visnite . If you would like to be added or deleted from our email list to receive notices of future Visitor Nights, please send an email to astro_outreach@ps.uci.edu with a subject line that says "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe".

Sincerely,

Tammy Smecker-Hane

Director, UCI Observatory
Associate Professor, Department of Physics & Astronomy