(All programs subject to good weather with clear skies)
Photo of Comet Hyakutake (1996) by astronomy club
member Mark
Marquette
StarWatch 2008
(All programs subject to good weather with clear skies)
Photo of Comet Hyakutake (1996) by astronomy club
member Mark
Marquette
StarWatch 2008
Every
Saturday in March, April, October and November starting at dusk.
View the night sky with many large telescopes at our observatories. See
fascinating celestial objects
like planets, the moon, star clusters, nebulae & galaxies.
| Spring Schedule | Fall Schedule | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | Time | Dates | Time |
| March 1 & March 8 | 7 p.m. | October 4 & 11 | 7:30 p.m. |
| March 15, 22, & 29 | 8 p.m. | October 18, 25, & November 1 | 7 p.m. |
| April 5, 12, 19, & 26 | 8:30 p.m. | November 8, 15, 22 & 29 | 6 p.m. |
Sessions last about 75 minutes
If cloudy, a short tour of the season's sky will be offered in the Discovery Theater along instead. This program will also include information about the refurbishment of the planetarium theater.
On nights with little or no moon visible (and therefore darker skies), emphasis is placed on stellar viewing of fainter deep space objects. On evenings when a bright moon precludes viewing faint objects, emphasis is placed on lunar observation and viewing of brighter deep space objects.
. Typically our telescopes can show you star clusters, nebulous gas clouds, colorful multiple star systems and distant galaxies. We can see features of the bright planets and our nearest neighbor, the Moon, is a remarkable sight. The instruments at Bays Mountain reveal thousands of craters, mountains and lava plains.
Please be aware that the Park's main entrance and exit gate is locked for the evening 15 minutes after the end of each observing session.
SunWatch - March through November
Saturday and Sunday afternoons from 2:45 - 3:30 p.m
Safely view the surface of the Sun through
specially filtered telescopes. With our instruments it is possible to view
a wide variety of eruptive disturbances
on the Sun including sunspots, prominences and solar flares.
*Viewing is cancelled if it is cloudy.