As part of a more than 100 year old tradition, Northwestern opens the historic Dearborn Observatory every Friday night to the public. My work in the observatory involves guiding visitors around the observatory, discussing its history, and of course observing!
Favorite observations in the Summer include Jupiter and Saturn, while Winter offers exciting star clusters like the Pleiades and nebulae like Orion for visitors to observe.
Dearborn Hours:
- 9:00 – 10:00 pm: Reservation hour only. Reservation requests received after 2 PM the day of may not be processed.
Your group will have a tour of the Observatory, and be able to look through the telescope.
Online Reservation Form
- 10:00 – 11:00 pm: Walk-ins welcome.
We try to allow everyone at least one opportunity to look through the telescope, but space is limited and there is no guarantee that everyone will be able to look through the telescope if we are very crowded.
