Stargazing

Because of the cloudy, rainy weather, the telescopes will be closed on Friday, September 27.  Please check back again in late October for another chance to do some stargazing with us!

Monthly Stargazing is sponsored by the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics and the Astronomy Club during the fall and spring semesters. We are closed from May-August during the Penn State summer sessions. However, stargazing is offered in mid-July as part of our AstroFest program.

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 (weather permitting). There is no fee to attend, and no RSVP is necessary.  

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 8:30pm.

You have several options to find out if we will be open on a given Friday night:

·         Follow our AstroFest Facebook page

·         Follow PSUObservatory on Twitter / X

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.  Their next Skywatch is October 4 at 8pm at Circleville Park.

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.