Maryland Space Grant Observatory
Observatory Status
Winter Observatory Dates
Stay tuned for more observatory dates after the holiday break!
Observatory Open Houses are generally held on Friday evenings, weather permitting, starting typically an hour after sunset. Opening and closing times vary with the seasons, weather and other factors. Checking this webpage after 4 p.m. the day of a tentative event is the best way to be informed. Open Houses are free and open to the public.
Fall 2024 Update: We plan to be open most Fridays throughout the fall except for 11/29, 12/20 and 12/27 and when the weather is uncooperative. Final decisions will be announced on this website as early as possible on the day of the event. Saturn, Venus and Jupiter are all making appearances in the evening sky this season, so there will nearly always be something bright to look at. We will sometimes also set up one of our cameras and do imaging of deep sky objects such as star clusters, nebulae and nearby galaxies. Some of the images so acquired are available here.
Click here for directions for Observatory Open Houses. When trying to enter the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy in the evening, some doors will be locked. The door on the northeast side (facing the athletic practice field) is often open. If not, walk clockwise around the building to the courtyard on the campus side, and if necessary wait there until someone can let you in. Once you’re in the building, you can take the main elevator to the 4th floor and use the stairs next to it to climb the rest of the way to the roof.
The Morris W. Offit Telescope is the major observing instrument located under the Stanley D. and Joan F. Greenblatt Dome, on the roof of the Bloomberg Center.