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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Two Joint Chicago Astronomer & Chicago Park District Public Observation Sessions

- 606 Bloomington Trail and Oz Park -

Saturday, 06 June 2015

The Chicago Astronomer will have two Public Observation Sessions this Saturday, the 6th of June 2015.  Our first event of the day will be part of the opening day ceremonies at the brand new The 606/bloomingdale trail
....

the606.org/

606 Trail map

We will set up at the western-most point of the 2 1/2 mile elevated trail at 1834 N. Lawndale Ave.  There is the newly constructed "Observatory" where the open vista identifies the Solstices and I understand offers a great view of the sky and surrounding area...




I do not know where exactly we will set-up the Telescopes, but it will be around this area.  We will set-up at 12:00 pm and share astronomy with Trail skylovers till 3:00 pm.  We intend to conduct a solar session at this event, but have a cloudy day plan - just in case.

Here are the list of events at the 606 Trail opening day:

We anticipate a great day out with fans at the opening day of the brand new 606 Trail...!

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Our second event of the day will be a return to Oz Park in Chicago's near north side at 2021 N Burling St...

Just off of Halsted Ave, we have conducted star parties here before and had a great turn out.  We will arrive at 8:00 pm and attend to our visitors till 10:00 pm.  Saturn, Jupiter, Venus and spring targets will be enjoyed - (if clear).  We have a cloudy night program if need be.


It will be a busy day for the Chicago Astronomer Saturday!   Be there.... 

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Recon visit to the Chicago Astronomer Observation site at the 

606 Bloomingdale Trail....

I visited the 606 Trail site a day before to check out the area that we will set-up the scopes for solar viewing on the Grand Opening day.  We will be at the very western end of the Trail, where the Exelon Observatory was built and where we will set-up...




Leading up toward the Observation mound and our reserved Telescope spot...





Coming from the street level below, we encounter the helical path way to the top of the Observatory mound....



Arriving at the apex, we see a flat plateau with a conical structure, open at one end...


 
Those notches along the upper rim, coincide with solstices throughout the solar year...





Looking over the edge, there is a medallion marker embedded in the pathway...





Something we noticed is that the new street lights have proper down facing LED lamps...




The grand opening reception for the 606 Trail was going on at this time...



The Park District tells us that we are to expect thousands to arrive Saturday and sharing the surface of the Sun with visitors.

Gonna be a blast!...

Be there, you know you want to.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

A great time attending to Hundreds at the Grand Opening of the
606 Boomingdale Trail

06 June 2016

Arriving at 11:30 am, our coordinators offered great unloading and parking adjacent to our telescope set-up site in and around the "Observatory" at the western end of the 2.7 mile trail, where by the end of our session four hours later, we had attended to hundreds of trail visitors who made their way to our site.

I always bring the Astrobrella for solar viewings... and both myself and visitors appreciated the shade.  Even before we set-up, trail visitors were asking about the telescopes and what was on the agenda this afternoon. The crew for this session, were Astronomers David and Bill - bringing their own H-Alpha scopes and setting up quickly, displaying solar prominences - and support crew member Maria was there to take pics and guide visitors.  I set up the C11 in the Observatory circle atop of the helical apex and we all started the day sharing views of our closest star - the Sun.

We set-out our shingle and opened the skies for our visitors...

As far as the eye could see, we observed hundreds of visitors along the trail and it was going to be a popular time with the Chicago Astronomers.  I asked my crew if they were ready and a resounding "Let's do it!"  And we start to view the face of the Sun - safely with filtered instruments, a sight many people do not get the opportunity to enjoy.

Some did not understand what they were looking at, just viewing a ball with smudges in the C102mm Refractor...but after explaining that that ball was the whole of the Sun's disk, shown against the blackness of space, it all aligned in their heads and amazed that such sights were possible.  Switching over to the main scope, the C11 magnified the Sunspot regions by 70% (keeping it on the low side), and thrilled to see the Penumbral and umbral regions of Sunspots.   Using the iPad mini, I instructed visitors on the mechanics of Sunspot formation...

It was a beautiful day for the grand opening of the trail...and for Chicago Astronomer solar viewing.  And the visitors made a steady stream toward our scopes throughout our time there...

A few asked it is was safe to view the Sun.  With the Solar filters firmly attached to the scopes, it was perfectly safe to gaze at the surface of the Sun.  I had the C102 Refractor fitted with a yellow filter as well for contrast and the main scope left to it's natural white color....

We all were having a blast on being part of the exciting event at the 606...

...and a parade entertained us...

The Astrobrella is a must during Chicago Astronomer Solar sessions, but is was just a bit breezy and I felt more secure if I had a hand on it from time to time...

Dave, Bill and myself referred our visitors to each other's scope to catch different views of the Sun - mine in white light, teasing out nice Sunspots and the two with their Hydrogen Alpha Scopes, displaying nice solar prominences along the disk's limb...

The time was just shooting by as we shared views of our closest star...

Word got around to look for the big umbrella at the Observatory for the chance to view the Sun...

The lines at our scopes would ebb and wane throughout the session, but mostly, we all had lines waiting to take a peek...

Friends and fans stop by to say hi and take a peek...

The day was holding out nicely with sunny skies and not too hot temps.  Our visitors kept asking if this C11 telescope would be here at the Observatory site permanently.  This is a possibility.  It would be great to conduct regular public observation sessions, especially evening viewings.  I am in discussion with the Educational Programming Director for The Trust for Public Land in the opportunity of sharing the night sky at the 606 Observatory site, adding to our popular observation schedule.  Stay tuned for updates...

Solid shout-out to David, who made his way to this event from quite a distance, attended to our visitors knowledgeably and representing the Chicago Astronomer beautifully.
 

Bill, Chicago Astronomer master sky navigator, always a great addition to the crew and attended to all professionally...

From a distance away, one could make out our observation site at the top of the helical pathway and Observatory apex...

Our last enthusiastic young visitor was amazed that he could view the surface of the Sun - a wow moment for him...

 

At this time, we had to close the viewing, even as people wanted us to continue.  As we had another observation session this evening at 8pm, we apologized and invited fans to check the Chicago Astronomer website for future public viewing sessions.  But...we could have conducted this session well after sunset!

Hope to be back soon!