Observatory
About the Observatory
The Observatory will be open on July 3 and July 17 from 8:30pm - 10:30pm. If it is clear, we will take out telescopes and look at some beautiful astronomical objects. We also give a tour of the facility, which includes the one-tenth scale model of the Hale Telescope at Mt. Palomar and images that we have taken with the telescopes on campus.
The Observatory will be open the first and third Fridays of the month for the winter/spring: June 5, July 3 and 17, and August 7 and 21. All dates are tentative! Please check back here to see if our open dates have changed before coming up to see us, or you can call the observatory phone number below to hear our monthly hours. No prior reservations are required, but if you have a group of greater than 10 people that you would like to bring to the observatory, call 607-962-9494 and leave a message with a phone number so we can return your call.
Parking for the Observatory is available in the Digital Dome parking lot. Parking at the Observatory is reserved for our visitors who require accessible parking. Everything at the observatory is free and open to the public! Please note that most of our time is spent outside, if the weather is clear. So please dress for the weather!
If you are interested in attending a Digital Dome Show, please check out their link here.
EVENTS
Partial Solar Eclipse
There will be a partial eclipse of the sun on August 12, 2026! The Observatory will be open for this event, weather permitting. The sun will only be obscured by about 8%, which means it won't be covered that much. We will have solar telescopes out for the event - this is the safest way to look at the sun during the partial eclipse. The Observatory will have a limited number of solar eclipse glasses for this event. These glasses are also safe for the event. The partial phase begins at 1:02pm, achieves that 8% coverage around 1:46pm, and the whole eclipse is done by 2:30pm. You can view the event from anywhere in our area, as the sun will be high in the sky during the event. NEVER look at the sun with your naked eye! NEVER look at the sun with sunglasses. You NEED to use a solar telescope or solar eclipse glasses to have the safest experience.
The Observatory will be open from approximately 12:45 pm until 2:30 pm for this event. Please join us if it is clear!
Kids' Night
Kids' Night is tentatively scheduled for the first Friday in October! Check back for more info on that event as we get closer to the date.
TELESCOPES
We have many types and sizes of telescopes here at our Observatory. Our two largest telescopes are both reflectors — the 20" and the 16". Our 20" telescope is the one-tenth scale model of the Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar in California.
We have 14", 12", 10", 8", and 6" reflectors that were built by members of the Elmira-Corning Astronomical Society. We have 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain reflectors in addition to 4" refractors and a solar telescope.
Questions?
Deborah Dann, Director of the Observatory