Prairie Grass Observatory

Can you visit Prairie Grass Observatory? Yes

Free open houses about monthly Apr-Oct after sunset; public nights during the Indiana Family Star Party in August.

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 Prairie Grass Observatory observes

The list does not describe the instruments at Prairie Grass Observatory yet.

How dark the sky is at Prairie Grass Observatory

Prairie Grass 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.

Prairie Grass Observatory among the observatories of Indiana

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

The coordinates on this page point to zip 46041 (approximate): 40.304°N, 86.469°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 Prairie Grass Observatory

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Holcomb Observatory and PlanetariumIndianapolis, Indiana, 58 km (36 mi). Weekend planetarium shows ($8 adults) with free telescope viewing after when clear; Holcomb 38-inch telescope under repair, portable scopes used
• McKim ObservatoryGreencastle, Indiana, 80 km (50 mi). Free astronomy open houses on about six Friday evenings each semester
• Goethe Link ObservatoryMartinsville, Indiana, 92 km (57 mi). Indiana Astronomical Society holds public sessions and monthly meetings at the observatory's 36-inch telescope; see IAS events calendar
• Ball State University ObservatoryMuncie, Indiana, 94 km (58 mi). Free public planetarium shows on select Fri-Sat evenings with live sky tour; observatory public viewing not confirmed
• Oakley ObservatoryTerre Haute, Indiana, 120 km (75 mi). Free public open houses about six times a year (e.g. Feb, May, Jul, Aug 2026); two flights of outdoor stairs
• John C. Hook Memorial ObservatoryTerre Haute, Indiana, 123 km (76 mi). Indiana State University campus observatory; public viewing events announced by ISU

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Wabash Valley Astronomical SocietyWest Lafayette, Indiana, 42 km (26 mi). Meets Monthly open meetings, usually Saturday 7 pm
• Indiana Astronomical SocietyMooresville, Indiana, 80 km (50 mi). Meets Saturday nights at Goethe Link Observatory or Mooresville Public Library
• Muncie Astronomy ClubMuncie, Indiana, 93 km (58 mi). Meets Monthly meetings at Minnetrista Museum and Gardens, 1200 N Minnetrista Pkwy
• Warsaw Astronomical SocietyWinona Lake, Indiana, 114 km (71 mi)
• Rose-Hulman Astronomical SocietyTerre Haute, Indiana, 120 km (75 mi)

Star parties near Prairie Grass Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Indiana 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.

Prairie Grass Observatory record

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