Open Houses typically take place on the second Saturday of every month*, at 7:00 from September-April and 8:00pm from May-August, in Ellis Hall on the Queen's Campus (58 University Ave). Each month, a featured astronomer presents a hot topic in current astrophysics research followed by a tour of the Observatory facilities!
During the tour, visitors have a chance to look at the night sky using Observatory telescopes (weather permitting), learn about astro-particle research at the McDonald Institute and the history of physics at Queen's University.
(*Sometimes we may depart from the regular schedule - sign up to our mailing list and follow us on social media to stay up to date with the events)
Upcoming Events
The Boogeyman of Astronomy
Join us for an Observatory Open House on Saturday, September 14th at 7:30PM!
This month we are very excited to feature Brandon Shane, who is a graduate student at Queen's University. Brandon will present ''The Boogeyman of Astronomy", discussing magnetic fields and the unexpected way they pop up in astronomy and space sciences.
The presentation will be followed by a tour of our facilities, including the McDonald Institute Visitor Centre and viewing nearby and deep-sky celestial objects with our telescopes (weather permitting).
We hope to see you there!
This is event is free for all ages!
Check the Forecast Before you Arrive
When reading the clear dark sky chart there is a 24h clock time along the top and each row gives useful information, the most important ones can be read as follows. The "Cloud Cover" row is white for cloudy and blue for clear. The "Darkness" row is white for daytime and dark blue for night time. The "Seeing" row is white for blurry skies and blue for clear skies.
