Open Houses

Open houses are run by members of the Student Astronomical Society and are free, as well as open to all ages. No special registrations or reservations are required. Open houses are held at the Angell Hall Observatory, located on State Street, between North and South University. After business hours the Angell Hall Complex can only be entered through Haven Hall on the Diag side of the building (far left door). A map and directions are located here. Once in Angell Hall, take the elevators to the 5th floor and we will direct you to the roof, which is where the Observatory is located.

Click here to learn more about getting to us!

General Notes

Planetarium shows are every ~40 minutes, starting when the open house starts.

Students taking classes that require observing assignments and/or open house attendance should plan to come well before the end of the semester! Unfortunately, we cannot control the weather, and the middle of winter (end of fall semester) and beginning of spring (end of winter semester) tend to be very cloudy, so if there is a clear night and you are required to go observing, make sure you come that night!

Please note that dates are subject to change.

Fall 2018

September 21th, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

October 5th, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

October 19th, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

November 2nd, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

November 16th, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

November 30th, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Winter 2019

January 18th, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

January 25th, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Febuary 8th, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

Febuary 22nd, 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM

March 22nd, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

April 5th, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

April 19th, 9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Other Information

We can only set up the telescopes and open the observatory if it's clear out. We still run observatory tours, presentations, and planetarium shows, rain or shine. Weather Channel Forecast

Facilities include a 0.4 meter Ritchey-Chretien reflector in the main observatory, as well as one or two 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrains set up on the rooftop. From light-polluted Ann Arbor the best subjects for viewing are typically the planets, the moon, the constellations, and colorful binary star systems. We also can show you a few of the brighter nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies in the sky. Visitors are encouraged to bring binoculars and lots of questions for the undergraduates. Keep in mind that the objects we can observe depend on the time of year so there are new things to see at each open house!

Angell Hall is also home to a planetarium, installed in August 2004. It projects more than 7000 stars, the sun, the moon, the planets, the milky way, and star clusters. Come see what the night sky looks like without light pollution! Planetarium shows are held during all open houses rain or shine. The each planetarium show lasts approximately 35 minutes.

Our planetarium is wheelchair accessible, as well as the roof. At this present time, our telescopes are not wheelchair accessible.

Any questions regarding open houses should be sent to sas-officers@umich.edu