Leander McCormick Observatory

Can you visit Leander McCormick Observatory? Yes

Free Public Nights 1st and 3rd Friday monthly year-round (9-11 pm DST, 7-9 pm winter); free Eventbrite registration required.

A public night at an observatory usually starts at dusk with a short talk, then a line at the eyepiece of the main telescope for the Moon, a planet or a bright cluster, with volunteers' smaller telescopes set up outside. Dress for the night air even in summer: domes are not heated, so the telescope stays at outside temperature. Many nights sell out or cancel for clouds, so check the observatory's site on the day.

Telescopes at Leander McCormick Observatory

26-inch & 6-inch Clark refractors, 10-inch reflector.

How dark the sky is at Leander McCormick Observatory

Leander McCormick Observatory has no Bortle rating in the list yet. The scale below shows what each class looks like.

Sky brightness and class come from the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness (Falchi et al. 2016, CC BY-NC 4.0), with natural skyglow added, at the coordinates below. Research telescopes are often sited on mountains above the haze, so the real sky can be darker than the map suggests.

Leander McCormick Observatory among the observatories of Virginia

Green dots are observatories open to the public, blue dots research or private sites, squares dark sky places; select one for its page. See Virginia observatories for the full list.

The coordinates on this page point to zip 22903 (approximate): 38.034°N, 78.492°W.

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Open the larger map · Directions. Mountain observatory roads are often gated after dark; go only on a scheduled public night.

Dark sky places, observatories and clubs near Leander McCormick Observatory

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Winfree ObservatoryLynchburg, Virginia, 89 km (55 mi). Randolph College star parties and public nights with Blue Ridge Astronomy Club (e.g. glow stick star party)
• Keeble ObservatoryAshland, Virginia, 95 km (59 mi). Free open viewing nights during the semester (e.g. Apr 9, 2026)
• Green Bank Telescope (GBT)Green Bank, West Virginia, 122 km (76 mi). Science Center open 9:30 am-5:30 pm (daily in summer, Thu-Mon in school year); guided bus tours of the GBT site $10
• George Mason ObservatoryFairfax, Virginia, 136 km (85 mi). Free public tours Wed, Thu, Sat late Aug-late Apr; Evenings Under the Stars talks with telescope tours during the academic year

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Charlottesville Astronomical SocietyCharlottesville, Virginia, 3 km (2 mi). Meets 1st Wednesday monthly, 7-9 pm
• Rappahannock Astronomy ClubFredericksburg, Virginia, 79 km (49 mi). Meets Monthly Wednesday, 7:30 pm
• Blue Ridge Astronomy ClubForest, Virginia, 104 km (65 mi). Meets Usually 4th Tuesday monthly, local public library community room in Bedford/Forest/Lynchburg area (varies)
• Richmond Astronomical SocietyRichmond, Virginia, 104 km (65 mi). Meets 2nd Tuesday monthly, 7:30 pm
• Shenandoah Astronomical SocietyWinchester, Virginia, 126 km (78 mi). Meets Monthly, 4th Monday

Star parties near Leander McCormick Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Virginia puts the dark sky places, observatories, clubs, star parties, planetariums and science centers of the state on one map, with the best night out worked out.

Leander McCormick Observatory record

From the site's observatories dataset (observatories_q426). Distances are computed from the coordinates.