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 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.

Sunday, Aug 24, 8:30-9:30 pm. -- ONU Event. "Welcomefest Meet-n-Greet"

Friday, Sept 19, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Autumnal Equinox Star Party"

ONU and surrounding communities are invited to drop by the ONU Observatory between 8:30 and 10:30 pm this Friday, September 19 for an autumnal equinox star party! The autumnal equinox is the start of fall and it officially happens on September 22 at 2:19 pm Eastern this year. It is called an "equinox" because the length of the daytime hours are about equal to the length of the nighttime hours. Equinoxes are special in that the Sun will rise due East and set due West around those dates. This date also happens to be just before the opposition of Saturn (9/20) and Neptune (9/23). This means that those 2 planets will be about as close to the Earth as they get, making them look bigger than average in the eyepiece. It will be a moonless night so we can look at fainter clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. Also, the observatory has a new refractor telescope!

This event was a success!

Friday, Sept 26, 8:30-10:30 pm. -- Public Event. "Saturn and Neptune at their closest"

The ONU and Ada communities are invited to drop by the ONU Observatory between 8:30 and 10:30 pm this Friday, Sept 26 for "Saturn and Neptune at their closest". The actual days of opposition for Saturn and Neptune are September 20 and September 23, respectively. These are approximately the dates of closest approach to the Earth and so these planets will look relatively big and bright through our telescopes and remain so for the next several months. Ringed Saturn and blue Neptune will be only about 3 degrees apart and situated in the East. Meanwhile the crescent Moon will set in the West by 9:30 pm, allowing us to observe fainter objects.

The forecast (as of 9/23) is for only 15% cloudcover, so conditions should be good for observing. Check this sight on Friday in case conditions change.

This event was a success!

Monday, Oct 20, 7:30-9:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) is close to Earth"

Friday, Nov 21, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Saturn's rings edge-on ... again!?"

Friday, Dec 12, 8:00-10:00 pm. -- Public Event. "Geminid Meteor Shower"

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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"

There are over ten heart shaped features on Mars alone! Check out this collage by NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team.

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"

This is Messier 87, a giant elliptical galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. It has one of the largest supermassive black holes and the only extragalactic black hole to be imaged directly by the Event Horizon Telescope. It is one of the few radio galaxies with an optical jet, which is easily resolved in this Hubble Space Telescope image (courtesy Wikipedia).

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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"

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

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

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

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

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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