Maryland Space Grant Observatory

Can you visit Maryland Space Grant Observatory? Yes

Free open houses on scheduled Friday evenings with the Morris W. Offit telescope (check observatory updates).

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.

What Maryland Space Grant Observatory observes

The list does not describe the instruments at Maryland Space Grant Observatory yet; the official site has them.

How dark the sky is at Maryland Space Grant Observatory

Maryland Space Grant 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.

Maryland Space Grant Observatory among the observatories of Maryland

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

The coordinates on this page point to zip 21218 (approximate): 39.327°N, 76.605°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 Maryland Space Grant Observatory

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Crosby Ramsey Memorial ObservatoryBaltimore, Maryland, 7 km (4 mi). Rooftop observatory at Maryland Science Center; daytime sungazing and Friday evening stargazing events (see calendar)
• George Mason ObservatoryFairfax, Virginia, 82 km (51 mi). Free public tours Wed, Thu, Sat late Aug-late Apr; Evenings Under the Stars talks with telescope tours during the academic year
• Naylor ObservatoryLewisberry, Pennsylvania, 94 km (58 mi). Astronomical Society of Harrisburg public observing nights at Naylor Observatory on scheduled weekend evenings (see ASH calendar)
• Mt. Cuba Astronomical ObservatoryWilmington, Delaware, 99 km (62 mi). Monday 8 pm Public Nights (lecture plus viewing, max 28, $10 adults) and select Friday Family Nights; reservations required
• Widener University ObservatoryChester, Pennsylvania, 122 km (76 mi). Public viewing sessions through the year
• Villanova ObservatoryVillanova, Pennsylvania, 134 km (83 mi). Open to the public Mon-Thu 7-9 pm per the Villanova Astronomical Society page; other times by appointment

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Howard Astronomical LeagueColumbia, Maryland, 24 km (15 mi). Meets Monthly Thursday, 7 pm
• Harford County Astronomical SocietyBel Air, Maryland, 32 km (20 mi)
• Astronomical Society of GreenbeltGreenbelt, Maryland, 43 km (27 mi). Meets Monthly, 7:30 pm
• Westminster Astronomical SocietyWestminster, Maryland, 48 km (30 mi). Meets Monthly member meetings with guest speakers, open to the public (see club site)
• National Capital AstronomersBethesda, Maryland, 60 km (38 mi). Meets Monthly Sep-Jun at University of Maryland Observatory, College Park

Star parties near Maryland Space Grant Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Maryland 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.

Maryland Space Grant Observatory record

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