Your own guided tour:

The Start:

Your tour starts upstairs on the third floor of the observatory.  We will open up the observatory dome and spend more than an hour using the telescope and your eyes to peer up at the night sky.  Constellations, planets, the moon, star clusters, supernova remnants from stars that exploded, nebula where new stars are forming, galaxies, and a host of other objects will be seen.  Your eyes will gradually adjust to the dark during this time and you will be able to see fainter and fainter objects.

See and Learn:

Our tour includes examples of all the major "building blocks" of our galaxy and beyond.  We explain everything you are seeing in an action packed astronomy lesson that is customized based on your questions and previous experience with astronomy.  You are encouraged to ask questions and we do our best to cover a wide range of different topics for you to learn about.

Switch to using the Camera:

After we are done with visual observing, the digital camera will be hooked up to the telescope, and we will move downstairs to the warm room to take some pictures.  You will learn how the telescope and camera system focuses, and then be able to choose several of your favorite targets to photograph.  The camera will take pictures that are almost as large as the computer screen, and will show much more detail than your eye alone can see through the telescope.  Faint details of delicate spiral galaxy arms become readily visible!   The intertwined bright and dim bands of swirled nebulas come to life!  Objects too faint or small to see with your eyes through the telescope are easily captured using the camera.

Lasting mementos:

We print out copies of all your pictures for you to take home as mementos from your visit.  The images can also be emailed to you.

Young and old alike will have fun, see amazing sights, and learn something new!

Scheduling:

We suggest scheduling your visit a week or so in advance, but same day appointments are possible.  The day of your appointment, call the observatory in the early evening to check on the weather.  If the weather is clear enough, we go ahead with your visit.  If its too cloudy that day, we switch you to a different night.