Maryland Space Grant Observatory

Technical Problems Update: May 31st was an unlucky night and a bunch of things went wrong with our main telescope. Our apologies to those who left disappointed that evening! We are tentatively operational again while we wait for a replacement part. We hope everything will work normally in the meanwhile but there is the possibility of further technical problems that might require short-notice cancellations. Thanks for your patience while we sort everything out!

Observatory Open Houses are generally held on Friday evenings, weather permitting, starting typically an hour or so 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.

Summer 2024 Update: We plan to be open most Fridays throughout the summer except when the weather is uncooperative. Final decisions will be announced on this website as early as possible on the day of the event. The bright planets don’t appear in the evening sky this season, so we will often set up one of our cameras and do some 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 best approach is to walk clockwise around the building toward 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.

Observatory Open House | Morris W. Offit Telescope | Upcoming Events | Telescope Training