View the heavens through the 20-inch Alvan Clark-Saegmuller refractor telescope at DU’s Historic Chamberlin Observatory.
All Astronomy Nights start with a DAS lecturer’s informative, multi-media astronomy presentation. Astronomy presentations are designed for visitors of all ages and may be illustrated with colorful computer graphics shows, videos, and/or whatever audio/visual method is appropriate.
After the presentation, visitors will be treated to telescopic views of the moon, stars and star clusters, planets, galaxies, nebulae, etc., through Chamberlin’s historic, 28-foot long, 20-inch aperture Alvan Clark-Saegmuller refracting telescope (weather permitting). On cloudy nights, visitors will view and learn about the telescope and receive a tour of the observatory, including its various clocks, the meridian telescope, the library, wall displays, and an animated video display of the night sky for that month. DAS volunteers will happily answer questions about astronomy, astronomical observing, and the observatory.
Due to overwhelming demand, we have changed how we reserve our Astronomy Nights and added more days to the calendar. We are committed to providing you with the best experience. We hope these changes will make the reservation experience more fair to our guests and make it easier for them to make plans and attend.
Rather than having guests register over a year in advance, we will now open up limited reservable slots each month on a rolling schedule:
• 14 slots per Astronomy Night will be unlocked 60 days before an event (e.g., the Astronomy Night on April 1, 2025, will be unlocked on Feb 1, 2025).
• An additional six slots will be opened on the first day of the month before the event month (e.g., The remainder of the March Astronomy Night events will be unlocked Feb 1).
• Reservations for our new Saturday Astronomy Nights will open up at the beginning of the month they will be held (e.g., a Saturday Astronomy Night in March would be unlocked on March 1).
These changes are effective immediately. However, most of 2025 was already booked before these changes were made. All existing reservations will remain in place. Any open slots created by future cancellations will be locked and/or unlocked according to the rules above.
Our Facebook, Twitter, and Bluesky pages will announce any last-minute cancellations.