The BSU Observatory is open to the public most clear Wednesdays during Spring and Fall semesters. Times can be found at www.bridgew.edu/observatory .
The BSU Observatory has an extremely active outreach program, and can run up to about a dozen telescopes at once. During public nights, we use a combination of telescopes on our patio decks, mostly with 8-inch apertures, to view planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae. The dome houses a Celestron C-14 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope used primarily for student research. Call the observatory hotline (508-531-3275), check this Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter @BSUObservatory to find out whether the weather will allow an event to occur. You may also call the hotline or check our website (www.bridgew.edu/observatory) to find out opening times. Admission is always free.
If you are interested in scheduling a private viewing event for a group of 25 ore more people, please call the observatory office at 508-531-2093. We also run hands-on workshops geared toward K-12 students intended to occur immediately before a viewing event.
The observatory is used for:
- Outreach in the form of public and private viewing sessions.
- Astronomy research conducted by BSU students.
- Use in BSU astronomy classes.
- Career development for K-12 teachers.
- Enrichment for K-12 and university students.
- Astrophotography.
