Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute invites members of the community to the Hirsch Observatory to view planets, stars, and galaxies with the observatory’s 16-inch telescope. The observatory will be open to the public every Saturday evening from March through November from 8-10 p.m. Anyone from the community is invited to come learn about our universe from Rensselaer students and faculty. Children are welcome. For more information you can check the observatory’s website at.  https://astro.union.rpi.edu/

On a public observing night you will be able to see stars, nebulae, galaxies, planets, the craters on the moon, and possibly the rings around Saturn!

All visitors to the Hirsch Observatory are encouraged to dress warmly. Check the Hirsch Observatory on Clear Sky Chart (https://www.cleardarksky.com/c/HrchObNYkey.html) to see if the evening’s skies will be clear enough for good viewing. We do have some programming for cloudy nights, but you will not be able to view the sky.

The observatory is located on top of the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center on Rensselaer’s Troy campus.  A campus map can be found at https://info.rpi.edu/visit. Please enter the building from the door closest to the parking garage on College Avenue, and then take the stairs to your right up to the fourth floor.