Public Events at the ONU Observatory

The ONU Observatory holds public events in order to share astronomy with the surrounding communities. The events on the Schedule below marked "Public Event" are free and open to the public! More information will be given as the date approaches. Note: these events are subject to cancellation when the weather is poor, or equipment needs repair. Please watch inside the schedule for cancellations in red which will be posted by 2:30 pm on the day of the event.
Cross your fingers for good weather. We'll leave the light off for ya!

Fall 2024 Schedule -- ONU Observatory

Maps to the ONU Observatory can be found here.
Descriptions of each event will appear in the week leading up to the event.

Sunday, Aug 25, 8:30-9:30 pm. -- ONU Event. "Welcomefest Meet-n-greet"

Friday, Sept 13, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Saturn near its brightest"

The ONU Observatory will be open to the public on Friday, Sept 13, from 8:30 - 10:30 pm, weather permitting. On Sunday, Sept 8, Saturn will be at opposition. ``Opposition" is the planetary configuration in which the planet appears in the opposite direction as the Sun from the Earth's perspective. It is also the time of closest approach to the Earth, making Saturn look bigger and brighter than usual. By Sept 13, Saturn is still close to Earth, but it will be higher in the sky by 9 pm making it easier to see through the telescopes. It will be 10 degrees above the horizon at 8:30 pm, and 20 degrees by 9:30 pm. This planet has a beautiful ring system, but it is getting closer to disappearing as an edge-on sliver of light as we approach the ring-plane crossing of March, 2025. The last ring-plane crossing was 29 years ago (1995). The Moon will be 78% lit and will also be fun to look at.

Now (9/13) the forecast is for ~30% cloudcover, so we will proceed!

This event was a success!

Friday, Sept 20, 8:30-10:30 pm -- Public Event. "Nova watch: T Corona Borealis"

The ONU Astronomy Club will be hosting a public outreach event on September 20 called "Nova watch: T Corona Borealis". On this evening the Sun will set nearly due west because the autumnal equinox is almost upon us. The theme tonight is novas and supernovas (technically, novae). These are "new" stars that seem to appear out of nowhere. Both types arise from exotic objects like massive stars (for supernovae) and white dwarves (for novae and Type Ia supernovae). The original star is obliterated in a supernova, but a nova can live to brighten again. T Corona Borealis is such a recurrent nova and it is predicted to go off this year, most likely in September. It consists of a white dwarf orbiting a red giant. Our telescopes can detect the red giant now. The white dwarf has surface detonations once about every 80 years, and it can reach the brightness of Polaris. We will point our telescopes at this and other nova and supernova remnants. Saturn will also be well placed for viewing.

As of Thursday (9/19) the forecast is looking cloudy for Friday night. Also, the nova has not yet erupted!

This event is cancelled due to predicted clouds.

Saturday, Oct 19, 7:30-9:30 pm -- Public Event. "Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is bright!"

Ada and the surrounding community is invited to a special viewing of a bright comet on Saturday, October 19 from 7:30-9:30 pm. This event begins a little earlier than usual in order to catch the comet before it sets in the west. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) should have a total magnitude brighter than Polaris, but it's light is spread out over a nucleus, coma, and long tail which extends about 8 degrees, so it may be difficult to find without help. We will have telescopes and binoculars on hand to view the comet. Binoculars will probably provide the best view of the entire comet. It is recommended that visitors arrive before 9:00 pm when the comet becomes too low for the telescopes to see.

As of Tuesday 10/15, the weather forecast is looking good for Saturday night!

This event was a success!

Friday, Nov 15, 7:30-9:30 pm -- Public Event. "Mercury and the Supermoon "

Ada and the surrounding community are invited to the ONU Observatory for a "star party" on Friday, Nov 15, 7:30-9:30 pm. Except that, instead of looking at stars, we will mostly be targeting solar system objects: the Moon, Saturn, and Jupiter. November 15 happens to be the greatest eastern elongation of Mercury, however it will be setting too early to get a look at it. Instead, will look at the full Moon, which happens to be on it's 3rd "supermoon" of 2024. It will be moving towards the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus. Also in Taurus will be Jupiter and Uranus. Taurus is getting brighter and closer as it approaches its December opposition. The full phase of the Moon is not great for viewing craters, but it is a good time to study color differences on the lunar surface and the ray structures around young craters.

As of Tuesday, 11/12, the forecast for Friday calls for heavy cloudcover.

This event is cancelled due to clouds in the forecast.

Friday, Dec 13, 7:30-9:30 pm -- Public Event. "Geminid Meteor Shower"

Ada and the surrounding community are invited to the ONU Observatory for the "Geminid Meteor Shower" on Friday, December 13, 7:30-9:30 pm. The Geminids is one of the best annual meteor showers. Its peak activity is up to 120 meteors per minute happening on December 14 each year. Weaker activity is detectable from Nov 19 to Dec 14. The meteors appear to radiate away from a point in the constellation Gemini, which will be rising in the East at 7:30 pm. Even if the skies are clear, conditions will not be ideal because of a nearly-full Moon. However, the Moon, Jupiter and Mars provide great targets for our telescopes as we watch for meteors.

As of Tuesday, the forecast for Friday night calls for 80% cloudcover so there will likely be a cancellation message here on Friday afternoon.

This event is cancelled due to clouds in the forecast.

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Spring 2024 Schedule -- ONU Observatory

Maps to the ONU Observatory can be found here.
Descriptions of each event will appear in the week leading up to the event.

Friday, Feb 9, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "The Winter Milky Way"

Friday, Feb 16, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Moon passing through the Pleiades "

Friday, Mar 8, 7:30-9:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks"

Friday, Mar 22, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Mercury at dichotomy"

Friday, Apr 5, 9:00-11:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Galaxies of Spring" Monday, Apr 8, 2:00-4:00 pm. -- Streamed Event. "Total Solar Eclipse!"

Total Solar Eclipse!!!
Live streaming this April 8.

The link to the stream is now available below.
Link to stream.
The stream was a success! Now check out the Solar Eclipse Photo Gallery HERE

Stats for ONU Observatory

Duration of totality: 3 m 56 s^*
Time of totality: 3:10:05 to 3:14:01 pm EDT.
Duration of partiality: 2 h 31 m 4 s
Distance from centerline: 6.7 mi NW
Local Magnitude: 1.0239 (max=1.0565 in Mexico)
*Max duration for OH is 3 m 59 s.

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Fall 2023 Schedule -- ONU Observatory

Maps to the ONU Observatory can be found here.

Descriptions of each event will appear in the week leading up to the event.

Sunday, Aug 20, 8:30-9:30 pm. -- ONU Event. "Welcomefest Meet-n-greet"

Friday, Sept 8, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Saturn puts on a show"

Friday, Sept 22, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "The Autumnal Equinox"

Friday, Oct 13, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Eclipse Eve Viewing"

Saturday, Oct 14, 12:30-1:30 pm. -- STREAMED Event. "Annular Solar Eclipse"

Friday, Nov 3, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Jupiter at its closest"

Friday, Nov 17, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Leonid Meteor Shower"

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Spring 2023 Schedule -- ONU Observatory

Friday, Feb 3, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Comet ZTF close to Earth"

Friday, Feb 24, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Explore the waxing crescent Moon"

Friday, Mar 24, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Spring Star Party!"

Friday, Apr 7, 9:00-11:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Mercury at Greatest Elongation"

Friday, Apr 21, 9:00-11:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Galaxies of Spring"

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Fall 2022 Schedule -- ONU Observatory

Sunday, Aug 21, 8:30-9:30 pm -- ONU event. "Welcomefest Open House"

Friday, Sept 16, 9:00-11:00 pm -- Public Event "Neptune at its closest"

Friday, Sept 23, 8:00-10:00 pm -- Public Event. "Autumnal Equinox and Jupiter approaching opposition"

Friday, Oct 21, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Orionid Meteor Shower"

Friday, Oct 28, 8:00-10:00 pm. - Public Event. "Observe the crescent Moon"

Friday, Nov 11, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Uranus at Opposition"

Friday, Dec 9, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Opposition of Mars"

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Arrange a tour or visit?

We encourage your K-12 students and other organizations to visit during the Public Events listed above. However, you may be able to schedule a special visit. We can comfortably fit about 60 people in the observing room. Bigger groups can still attend. During the daytime, we will show you the building and telescopes and, if clear, can view the Sun! We don't roll back the roof if there is precipitation. If interested, contact the Observatory Manager:

Dr. Jason Pinkney
ONU Dept of Physics and Astronomy
525 S. Main St., Ada, OH, 45810
j-pinkney@onu.edu
Office: 419-772-2740
Observatory: 419-772-4028

See maps to the ONU Observatory.
Check the weather at ONU Observatory: Clear Sky Chart.
See the Observatory's Astrophoto gallery.

Information for visitors to the ONU Observatory:

Before coming to the observatory, check for cancellations on this Public Events page.
The observatory is wheelchair accessible. We also attach video cameras to some telescopes to allow viewing on our wall-hanging TVs.
There are heated restrooms at the back of the observatory.
Follow good ASTRO-ETIQUETTE: :
1. Don't shine lights in other's eyes or use flash photography
2. Try not to push the telescopes
3. Try not to touch the lenses of the telescopes or eyepieces
4. Ask questions of the manager or student helpers, who may be wearing glow lights
You can arrive any time during the scheduled event; there is usually no advantage to being early. (Sometimes there are short presentations but they occur in the middle of the event.)
The observing room gets cold in the winter, dress warmly!
The observatory has a heated control room (cool in summer) in case you get cold (or hot).
If the lines aren't too long, you can take cell phone pictures of brighter objects through the telescope eyepieces.
You can donate to ONU here , or look for a donations jar at the observatory to specifically help the ONU Astronomy Club.

See Archive of previous Astronomy Events at ONU.

Go to Pinkney's Homepage
Go to ONU Physics
Go to ONU