Astronomy

The dark night skies at Sly Park allow us to have fantastic views of planets, stars, and the Moon. Galaxies, nebula, and other deep space objects are also visible. Pictured here is the constellation Ursa Major, better known as the "Big Dipper."

Observatory

The Sly Park observatory houses ten telescopes: An 11" Celestron, a 17 1/2 " newtonian, two 8" newtonians and six 6" reflectors. During the daytime, the sunspots and solar prominences can be seen with our hydrogen alpha filter.

Planetarium

The Starlab planetarium projects the night sky indoors where students learn about constellations, legends from many different cultures, and concepts that help them understand astronomy.

Current Star Gazing Events

Check out the SkyTips Email Newsletter link on McDonald Observatory's website. Click on "View the most recent issue" on the bottom of the page for current events.