Clarence T. Jones Observatory

Can you visit Clarence T. Jones Observatory? Yes

UTC public lesson and viewing nights several times a year Oct-Apr, star parties and solstice seminars.

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 Clarence T. Jones Observatory observes

The list does not describe the instruments at Clarence T. Jones Observatory yet; the official site has them.

How dark the sky is at Clarence T. Jones Observatory

Clarence T. Jones 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.

Clarence T. Jones Observatory among the observatories of Tennessee

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

The coordinates on this page point to Jones Observatory, Chattanooga: 35.018°N, 85.235°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 Clarence T. Jones Observatory

Clarence T. Jones Observatory is about 20 km (12 mi) from Harrison Bay State Park, a Bortle Class 5 dark sky place. See Harrison Bay State Park for camping, where to set up and the sky by season.

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Cordell-Lorenz ObservatorySewanee, Tennessee, 66 km (41 mi). Public viewing Thursdays 8-10 pm during academic terms (mid-Aug to mid-Dec, mid-Jan to mid-May)
• Tamke-Allan ObservatoryRoane County, Tennessee, 107 km (66 mi). Free public stargazes several times a year (latest listed 2024 on college page)
• North Georgia Astronomical ObservatoryDahlonega, Georgia, 127 km (79 mi). Free public viewing Fridays 8 pm-midnight, weather permitting (check Facebook)
• MTSU ObservatoryMurfreesboro, Tennessee, 142 km (89 mi). MTSU Classical Observatory (16-inch) and Uranidrome naked-eye plaza; free public star parties each semester after physics lectures

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Barnard Astronomical SocietyChattanooga, Tennessee, 1 km (1 mi). Meets Monthly, 6 pm social
• Von Braun Astronomical SocietyHuntsville, Alabama, 126 km (78 mi)
• ORIONOak Ridge, Tennessee, 142 km (88 mi). Meets Monthly Wednesday, 7 pm
• Georgia Tech Astronomy ClubAtlanta, Georgia, 148 km (92 mi)

Star parties near Clarence T. Jones Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Tennessee 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.

Clarence T. Jones Observatory record

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