The 14th level roof of RLM is a secure observing location, but unfortunately, it is located in the middle of the city and campus lights, so it is not ideal, but it does have a good clear horizon. You don't want too many stars at the beginning anyway. Very cold weather is good for us, since the various stadiums are darkened then. Depending upon what is being observed, the specific hours of observation will of course have to vary somewhat. For example, some projects deal with night-time observations of the stars and planets, while Moon observations can be both night and day.
Solar observations are clearly daytime observations.
The activities are going to be more concentrated at the beginning of the semester, to get observations started as soon as possible, so that long-term changes have more of a chance to show up. There will be fewer reading assignments at this time. There will be no mathematical problem sets. Wednesday, Sept 22 is the last day to drop freely. If you are doing poorly in the class, do take effective action by these deadline days.