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MONDAY NIGHT TOURS: Tours take an hour and a half, and they typically happen after dark on Monday evenings throughout the year. The evening begins with a 45 minute slide show entitled "The Solar System" or "The Universe" (depending on the level of the group). The tour then proceeds up to the top of the campus' 22-story highrise where the observatory is located. There, on clear nights, you can see celestial objects such as star clusters, planets, nebulas, galaxies, and the moon. On cloudy nights, the operation of the observatory's telescope is explained.
DAYTIME TOURS: For younger groups, a nighttime tour is often inconvenient. In such a situation, a group can come to the campus during the day instead. A daytime tour is just like a Monday night tour, except that instead of viewing stars and planets, special safety equipment is used to look at features on the Sun.
As an alternative to bringing your group to the university, it is sometimes possible to have Dave Lane, SMU's observatory technician, visit your school classroom to give the slide presentation that would normally be part of a tour.
BOOKING:
Observatory tours are offered for organized groups of 12 to 25 people; smaller groups are asked to attend the regular public tours held on Saturday nights (click HERE for more infomation on public tours). Because of high demand, tours must be booked weeks or months in advance. Tours are held whether or not skies are clear. Contact Dave Lane at
| phone: (902) 420 - 5633
email: dlane@ap.smu.ca
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