Public star party visitor
Calendar of Events
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Click on an event below for more details.
What Types of Events are at RFO?
We have many types of events here at RFO, including but not limited to:
Public Solar Observing: Come and view our closest star and learn about sunspots, prominences, flares and more. We observe with both visible light and radio telescopes.
Public Star Party: Presentations on astronomical topics are given in the classroom throughout the course of the evening. Starting at dusk, the Observatory’s three main telescopes are open for your viewing. Docents set up additional telescopes in front of the building. Friendly and knowledgeable docents are available to answer your questions.
What’s Up?: If you’ve ever looked up at the stars overhead and wondered what else is up there, the Robert Ferguson Observatory’s “Whats Up?” program is designed for you! The event will feature a talk on objects in our local galaxy, the Milky Way, and very deep space objects beyond, plus you will get plenty of time at the telescope eyepieces.
Focus Night: Focus Nights take a single topic and present it in depth, giving participants an opportunity to gain deeper understanding and expand their appreciation of astronomy.
Clear Sky Chart
Click on the Clear Sky Chart to see what the current sky conditions are like at RFO.
Testimonials
Check out what visitors have to say about the RFO!
We enjoyed the opportunity to review the universe – thank you!
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to RFO and would like to come back in the future!
Public star party visitor
The members of the TTAG team all want to thank you for welcoming us to the observatory…During the Planet Walk, one of the girls told me that she was not exposed to an astronomy curriculum in school and was absolutely fascinated to learn more about this subject. Yeh!!! By the time we headed home, all of the girls were chatty and excited about their experience.
Diane Meyers
TTAG (Tech Trek Alumnae Group)
The students and adult chaperones were raving about all the new things they learned so I am really grateful for all that you did for us to make it happen.
Joscelyn Mountain-Tuller
Eighth Grade Science Teacher
Willowside Middle School
Thank you for an AMAZING night at RFO last night – the weather, skies and viewing conditions could not have been better! The students were just thrilled to be there and I know we want to come back soon.
Aparna Venkatesan
USF
Thank you so much for your wonderful work yesterday! Our guests were so very pleased to use your telescope, and I received a lot of excited feedback from our team who got to look at the moon and at Saturn. We appreciate you staying out late with us!
Emma Gray
Events Coordinator
Chandon Winery