Widener University Observatory

Can you visit Widener University Observatory? Yes

Public viewing sessions through the year.

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 Widener University Observatory observes

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

How dark the sky is at Widener University Observatory

Widener University 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.

Widener University Observatory among the observatories of Pennsylvania

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

The coordinates on this page point to Widener University Observatory (Wikipedia): 39.862°N, 75.358°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 Widener University Observatory

Widener University Observatory is about 18 km (11 mi) from Brandywine Creek State Park, a Bortle Class 6 dark sky place. See Brandywine Creek 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

• Univ. of Pennsylvania ObservatoryPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 km (11 mi). Teaching observatory on the DRL roof; occasional public observing nights and group visits by arrangement
• Holt and Miller Observatory (Franklin Institute)Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19 km (12 mi). Guided solar viewing through the 10-inch Zeiss refractor Sat-Sun 12-3 with museum admission; occasional ticketed Night Skies evenings
• Villanova ObservatoryVillanova, Pennsylvania, 20 km (12 mi). Open to the public Mon-Thu 7-9 pm per the Villanova Astronomical Society page; other times by appointment
• Mt. Cuba Astronomical ObservatoryWilmington, Delaware, 23 km (14 mi). Monday 8 pm Public Nights (lecture plus viewing, max 28, $10 adults) and select Friday Family Nights; reservations required
• Harold E. Taylor ObservatoryGalloway, New Jersey, 79 km (49 mi). Free public viewing nights Sep-early May on select Thursdays/Fridays, 8-10 pm; reservation required (5-minute slots, up to 4 people)
• Peyton ObservatoryPrinceton, New Jersey, 83 km (51 mi). Free open houses usually 2nd or 3rd Tuesday monthly at 8:30 pm (Thursday backup), no registration

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Rittenhouse Astronomical SocietyHaverford, Pennsylvania, 17 km (10 mi). Meets Monthly public speaker meeting, on Zoom (normally in a planetarium)
• Villanova Astronomical SocietyVillanova, Pennsylvania, 20 km (12 mi)
• Delaware Valley Amateur AstronomersBlue Bell, Pennsylvania, 20 km (13 mi). Meets Monthly, usually Friday evening
• Chester County Astronomical SocietyWest Chester, Pennsylvania, 23 km (14 mi). Meets 2nd Tuesday monthly (Jan-May, Sep-Nov)
• Delaware Astronomical SocietyWilmington, Delaware, 25 km (16 mi). Meets 3rd Tuesday monthly (Sep-Jun), 7 pm board

Star parties near Widener University Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Pennsylvania 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.

Widener University Observatory record

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