Observatory
View through a 16-inch reflecting telescope
You can take your own tour of the heavens with the Observatory’s 16-inch telescope (no reservations are needed or can be taken), available for free viewing Wednesday through Saturday from 7:00-10:00 p.m., all year long (the only such telescope open on a regular weekly schedule, free to the public, in the state of Arizona). UA Science: Flandrau’s Cassegrain reflector is the same optical design as professional telescopes on Arizona mountaintops. An expert astronomer or telescope operator is available (weather permitting) to point you toward the sky’s best sky show this month and visitors can request different objects to view. In addition to eyepiece views through its main 16-inch telescope, the observatory uses a real-time Hyperstar imaging system on an auxiliary telescope, which is able to reveal the tails of comets not easily visible from city locations, along with details in bright nebulae and star clusters.
Before you visit, check out our Skywatchers’ Guide and Observatory News for regular updates on what’s new and exciting to see in the night skies over Tucson.
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Hours of Operation
Wednesday-Saturday
7:00 p.m.—10:00 p.m., weather permitting, year-round
The Observatory is closed during major holidays, including but not limited to Christmas, Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s Day.
You can also rent the Observatory for your special event Monday and Tuesday nights. For more information, contact our Astronomy Coordinator Mike Terenzoni at miket@ns.arizona.edu.
For the safety of all visitors to the Science Center, backpacks, large satchels, and packages are not permitted inside the Science Center. Lockers are provided for your convenience. All items are subject to search. Thank you for your cooperation.
September 24th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
[...] but to me, it was my own personal Palomar. I also had an unforgettable time volunteering at the Flandreau observatory as a telescope operator, and would take any open slot available. I also managed to cross off Meteor [...]
May 27th, 2009 at 6:02 pm
[...] is indeed a tough challenge; I’ve only spotted it once with the 16″ telescope at the Flandrau observatory in Tucson, Arizona, although it is possible with apertures as small as 6″ under superb [...]
June 27th, 2010 at 2:05 pm
you should have observatory open on sundays, mondays, and tuesdays rather than just wednesday, thursday, fiday, and saturday
December 7th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Thank you all, those that work and volunteer at the planetarium! I am so glad to have the UA Science: Flandran available with free views from the telescope, the mineral museum, and laser shows. The best part from experiencing a visit at the planetarium is how willing you all are to explaining what is out there for use to see and learn about. For me it was a wonderful experience to see Jupiter with assistance from someone that studies astronomy and was also excited about sharing the information with me.
I have always been curious about astronomy especially since everyone likes to talks about their horoscope, or ask what one’s constellations from birth are. But really not enough of us know what is really going on out there in space; or we are looking at when we look up at the night sky. The information that the Flandrau Planetarium, observatory, and that the exhibits provide are truly priceless. Those that participate being a part of the UA Science:Flandrau outreach for and to the public THANK YOU.
Ana Rodriguez
February 3rd, 2011 at 10:14 pm
Many, many thanks to the volunteers at the Center tonight, TH, Feb 3, 2011.
In spite of chilling weather and a posted closing of the telescope due to the unreasonably freezing weather, they donned coats and took us Wisconsin visitors and showed us Jupiter, 3 of its moons and the Orion Nebula! This was a wonderful gift to us. We’ve been interested in astronomy and have never taken that first step to get actively involved. Thank you for your gracious lesson.
Sincerely, Mary-Beth and Brian