Kirkwood Observatory

Can you visit Kirkwood Observatory? Yes

Free open houses Wednesday evenings from spring break to Thanksgiving, weather permitting; no reservation.

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 Kirkwood Observatory observes

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

How dark the sky is at Kirkwood Observatory

Kirkwood 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.

Kirkwood 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 city Bloomington (approximate): 39.140°N, 86.508°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 Kirkwood Observatory

Kirkwood Observatory is about 15 km (9 mi) from Yellowwood State Forest, a Bortle Class 4 dark sky place. See Yellowwood State Forest for camping, where to set up and the sky by season.

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Goethe Link ObservatoryMartinsville, Indiana, 38 km (23 mi). Indiana Astronomical Society holds public sessions and monthly meetings at the observatory's 36-inch telescope; see IAS events calendar
• McKim ObservatoryGreencastle, Indiana, 65 km (40 mi). Free astronomy open houses on about six Friday evenings each semester
• Oakley ObservatoryTerre Haute, Indiana, 81 km (51 mi). Free public open houses about six times a year (e.g. Feb, May, Jul, Aug 2026); two flights of outdoor stairs
• Holcomb Observatory and PlanetariumIndianapolis, Indiana, 82 km (51 mi). Weekend planetarium shows ($8 adults) with free telescope viewing after when clear; Holcomb 38-inch telescope under repair, portable scopes used
• John C. Hook Memorial ObservatoryTerre Haute, Indiana, 86 km (53 mi). Indiana State University campus observatory; public viewing events announced by ISU
• South Harrison ObservatoryLaconia, Indiana, 123 km (76 mi). One or two public sessions a month: evening sky tour near first-quarter moon and daytime solar open house near third quarter

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Indiana Astronomical SocietyMooresville, Indiana, 52 km (32 mi). Meets Saturday nights at Goethe Link Observatory or Mooresville Public Library
• Rose-Hulman Astronomical SocietyTerre Haute, Indiana, 81 km (51 mi)
• Louisville Astronomical SocietyLouisville, Kentucky, 122 km (76 mi). Meets General meetings Friday, 8 pm
• Evansville Astronomical SocietyLynnville, Indiana, 125 km (78 mi). Meets 3rd Friday monthly (except Jun)
• Wabash Valley Astronomical SocietyWest Lafayette, Indiana, 149 km (93 mi). Meets Monthly open meetings, usually Saturday 7 pm

Star parties near Kirkwood 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.

Kirkwood Observatory record

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