Stargazing
Information on Spring 2026 Open house dates will be posted as the weather permits. None are planned just yet, but check back periodically!
Stargazing is sponsored roughly monthly on Friday evenings, as weather permits, by the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Astronomy Club during the fall and spring semesters. We are closed from May to August during the Penn State summer sessions. Stargazing is also offered in mid-July as part of our AstroFest program. We hold a special event in October in conjunction with Penn State's Family Weekend.
When the observatory is open, the public is welcome to join us on the roof of Davey Lab to observe planets, stars, and deep space objects like nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters that are currently visible in the sky using a variety of telescopes. There is no fee to attend, and no RSVP is necessary. To get to the 6th floor, you can take the elevators in the lobby of Davey Lab and choose the button for "6R". There is only one stairwell from the 5th floor to the 6th floor that takes you to the right location, so we strongly recommend the elevators.
During the fall and spring, we will also occasionally host “Stars and Scientists” nights on Fridays where a researcher will present a brief science talk about their work, followed by rooftop telescope observing if the weather is clear. The talks will be held on the fifth floor (room 538) and will begin at 8:30 pm.
For the Spring 2026 semester, we are going to keep an eye on the forecasts and try to open when we are more likely to have clear weather on a Friday night. So we aren't going to post ahead of time any prospective dates, as we are going to schedule open houses with roughly a week's notice when it is looking likely to be clear.
We will update this website 12 - 24 hours beforehand with an update on the weather forecast and our decision on whether the observatory will be open on a particular Friday night.
Other local opportunities for telescope observing in Central PA:
In the State College community, the Central PA Observers also host stargazing nights in local parks. They will be holding a sky watch at the Arboretum at Penn State.
During the summers, Fort Roberdeau's Mountain Lion Observatory also hosts telescope observing nights at their location approximately 40 miles from the University Park campus.