University of Illinois Observatory

Can you visit University of Illinois Observatory? Yes

Free open house 2nd Friday monthly (next Friday if cloudy) run by the Urbana Illinois Astronomical Society; NPS grant for rehabilitation 2026.

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 University of Illinois Observatory

12-inch Brashear refractor.

How dark the sky is at University of Illinois Observatory

University of Illinois 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.

University of Illinois Observatory among the observatories of Illinois

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

The coordinates on this page point to zip 61801 (approximate): 40.110°N, 88.204°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 University of Illinois Observatory

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• John C. Hook Memorial ObservatoryTerre Haute, Indiana, 98 km (61 mi). Indiana State University campus observatory; public viewing events announced by ISU
• Oakley ObservatoryTerre Haute, Indiana, 102 km (63 mi). Free public open houses about six times a year (e.g. Feb, May, Jul, Aug 2026); two flights of outdoor stairs
• McKim ObservatoryGreencastle, Indiana, 125 km (78 mi). Free astronomy open houses on about six Friday evenings each semester
• Prairie Grass ObservatoryFrankfort, Indiana, 149 km (93 mi). Free open houses about monthly Apr-Oct after sunset; public nights during the Indiana Family Star Party in August

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Astronomical Society at University of IllinoisUrbana, Illinois, 2 km (1 mi). Meets Bi-weekly during semester, University of Illinois campus
• Champaign-Urbana Astronomical SocietyTolono, Illinois, 15 km (9 mi). Meets 2nd Thursday monthly (see cuas.org for venue)
• Twin City Amateur AstronomersNormal, Illinois, 80 km (50 mi)
• Rose-Hulman Astronomical SocietyTerre Haute, Indiana, 102 km (63 mi)
• Wabash Valley Astronomical SocietyWest Lafayette, Indiana, 115 km (71 mi). Meets Monthly open meetings, usually Saturday 7 pm

Star parties near University of Illinois Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Illinois 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.

University of Illinois Observatory record

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