April 2019 will bring a special meeting for the Madison Astronomical Society. Instead of our usual gathering at Space Place, we will meet instead at Sterling Hall on the UW-Madison Campus, where our very own Jim Lattis will give us a tour of some of the astronomy department’s historic facilities.

WHAT: The meeting in Sterling Hall will include a tour of the rooftop astronomy facilities, including the vintage Spitz optical/mechanical planetarium and the rooftop telescopes, including the historic Burnham telescope. Weather permitting we will observe with the Burnham refractor.

WHEN: will convene at 7:15 pm on Friday, April 12. Please plan to arrive around 7:00 since we will want to assemble before we start to move around inside Sterling Hall as a group.

WHERE: Sterling Hall’s physical address is 475 N. Charter St. Madison. Room 4421 Sterling Hall, which is the Astronomy Department’s colloquium room, will be our initial meeting place. The Charter Street entrance is the most convenient way to access from likely parking areas. There is handicapped accessible parking and entrance from the courtyard that hides between Chamberlin and Sterling Halls. You get there by coming uphill along a narrow lane from Charter St. along the southern edge of Sterling Hall. There are staircases and elevators not far from either of those entrances. The room is in roughly the middle of the building on the fourth floor.

PARKING: Parking on the UW campus can be challenging. Please allow extra time to find parking and to walk to Sterling. The three most convenient parking lots within walking distance of Sterling hall are Grainger (325 N Brooks St ), Van Hise (1220 Linden Dr) and Ramp 20 (University Ave Ramp, 1390 University Ave). PLEASE ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO FIND PARKING. Car-pooling is highly recommended!