Modine-Benstead Observatory

Can you visit Modine-Benstead Observatory? Yes

Free public open houses on select Friday or Saturday nights (e.g. 7-10 pm), weather permitting.

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 Modine-Benstead Observatory observes

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

How dark the sky is at Modine-Benstead Observatory

Modine-Benstead 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.

Modine-Benstead Observatory among the observatories of Wisconsin

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

The coordinates on this page point to city Union Grove (approximate): 42.690°N, 88.039°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 Modine-Benstead Observatory

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Yerkes ObservatoryWilliams Bay, Wisconsin, 43 km (27 mi). Ticketed daytime tours (Space and Spaces, Hidden Spaces) and night-sky viewing through the 40-inch refractor; grounds free sunrise-sunset
• Whitewater ObservatoryWhitewater, Wisconsin, 59 km (37 mi). Occasional public open houses (e.g. Wisconsin Science Festival star party)
• Dearborn ObservatoryEvanston, Illinois, 76 km (47 mi). Free tours every Friday night year-round (first hour by Eventbrite reservation, second hour walk-in); CIERA Astronomer Evenings last Friday monthly
• Glen D. Riley ObservatoryNaperville, Illinois, 110 km (69 mi). Club outreach and public events (e.g. Solar Saturdays); members observatory
• Washburn ObservatoryMadison, Wisconsin, 120 km (75 mi). Free public observing 1st and 3rd Wednesdays monthly and every Wednesday Jun-Aug, weather permitting; status posted 30 min before

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Racine Astronomical SocietyUnion Grove, Wisconsin, 0 km (0 mi). Meets Modine-Benstead Observatory
• Wehr Astronomical SocietyFranklin, Wisconsin, 24 km (15 mi)
• Milwaukee Astronomical SocietyNew Berlin, Wisconsin, 33 km (21 mi). Meets 1st Wednesday monthly member meeting
• Lake County Astronomical SocietyIngleside, Illinois, 38 km (23 mi). Meets 3rd Friday monthly public meeting, followed by a star party weather permitting
• Skokie Valley AstronomersDeerfield, Illinois, 60 km (37 mi). Meets 2nd Friday monthly, 8 pm

Star parties near Modine-Benstead Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Wisconsin 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.

Modine-Benstead Observatory record

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