James C. Veen Observatory

Can you visit James C. Veen Observatory? Yes

GRAAA public nights on 2nd and 4th Saturdays Apr-Oct when clear; $5 adults, $3 youth; Starwatch line 616-897-7065.

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 James C. Veen Observatory

16-inch, 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrains; 17-inch Dobsonian.

Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical Association

How dark the sky is at James C. Veen Observatory

James C. Veen 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.

James C. Veen Observatory among the observatories of Michigan

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

The coordinates on this page point to zip 49331 (approximate): 42.955°N, 85.365°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 James C. Veen Observatory

Nearest dark sky places

Other observatories open to the public within 150 km

• Calvin University ObservatoryGrand Rapids, Michigan, 15 km (9 mi). Open to visitors on clear weeknights Mon-Fri during semesters (7:30-11 pm, later after DST); Wednesdays only in summer; call the dome to check
• Fox Park Public ObservatoryPotterville, Michigan, 61 km (38 mi). Eaton County Parks observatory run with Capital Area Astronomy Association volunteers; public nights in season (see Night Sky Network calendar)
• Michigan State University ObservatoryEast Lansing, Michigan, 72 km (45 mi). Free public observing nights on about 13 Saturdays Apr-Oct, no registration
• Brooks Astronomical ObservatoryMt. Pleasant, Michigan, 80 km (50 mi). Monthly public open nights during the academic year (since 1976)
• Angell Hall Student ObservatoryAnn Arbor, Michigan, 150 km (93 mi). Free public open houses on select Friday nights, about 9-11 pm

Astronomy clubs within 150 km

• Grand Rapids Amateur Astronomical AssociationLowell, Michigan, 25 km (16 mi). Meets Monthly in winter, spring and autumn at Grand Rapids Public Museum
• Shoreline Amateur Astronomical AssocHolland, Michigan, 63 km (39 mi). Meets Monthly membership meetings Sep-May (none in summer); see holland-saaa.org for venue
• Muskegon Astronomical SocietyMuskegon, Michigan, 74 km (46 mi). Meets Monthly business meeting at the MAS Observatory (Muskegon County Wastewater site)
• Capital Area Astronomy AssociationEast Lansing, Michigan, 77 km (48 mi). Meets Monthly, Wednesday 7 pm
• Kalamazoo Astronomical SocietyKalamazoo, Michigan, 80 km (49 mi). Meets 1st Friday most months, 7 pm

Star parties near James C. Veen Observatory

Planning a trip? Astrotourism in Michigan 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.

James C. Veen Observatory record

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