Extended Supernova viewing: limited space available!

Last Friday, the Caltech Astronomy Outreach team hosted a supernova viewing event and experienced an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response: 150 people were able to see an extragalactic supernova through our rooftop telescope, but another 500 people had to be turned away due to safety limitations and mixed weather. We are very grateful to everyone who came out, and in order to accommodate this degree of interest, we will be hosting supernova viewings every weeknight this week, Monday-Friday as well as an additional set of presentations on Friday Sep. 16 by some of the Palomar Transient Factory team who discovered the supernova!

We are issuing tickets for specific dates and times to avoid the long lines that occurred at Friday's event. Most of our available tickets were distributed to those who waited in line last Friday, but you can check on the availability of additional tickets by visiting twitter.com/CaltechAstro. Individuals who have received their tickets for a specific date and time must arrive at the Cahill Center on the correct day and before the time listed on their ticket in order for the ticket to be considered valid! In addition, we wish remind all ticket-holders that all observing is contingent on the cooperation of Mother Nature, and we (regretfully) cannot guarantee that the weather conditions will allow us to view the supernova on every night.

Individuals who did not receive a ticket are welcome to come to the Cahill Center on M-F this week between 9-10pm; the first ~25 people to come may be able to use the telescope if/when all those with valid tickets have had a chance to view the supernova. Please check twitter.com/CaltechAstro, where we will try to provide updates on the likelihood of additional spots being available based on the weather and other factors!

Thank you for your interest, and we hope to see you this week! - The Caltech Astronomy Outreach Team