Public Events at the ONU Observatory

Spring 2025 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 14, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Valentine's Day Star Party" It's Valentine's day! So what better time to look at love-related objects in astronomy. The planet Venus is named after the Roman goddess of love. It just so happens to be in a special position called "maximum brilliancy" on February 14, 2025! This is when Venus appears the brightest. It isn't when Venus is the closest to Earth or the Sun, nor is it when Venus is at it's greatest angle away from the Sun. But it happens when Venus is around 40 degrees from the Sun. This makes it an easy target for our telescopes at the start of this public event. Continuing the Valentine's day theme, we can look for more challenging deep sky objects like the Heart Nebula and the Heart-shaped cluster (Messier 50). It turns out that dozens of heart shaped features have been discovered on other planets, like Mars and Pluto, although they are not visible from our ground-based telescopes. There are over ten heart shaped features on Mars alone! Check out this collage by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team. This event is cancelled due to clouds in the forecast. Friday, Mar 7, 7:00-9:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Mercury joins the party" Friday, Mar 28, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Mars loops through Gemini" Friday, Apr 25, 9:00-11:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Galaxies of Spring" Printer-friendly version here.

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. Printer-friendly version here.

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.