Anyone interested in stargazing can attend the free open house at the MSU Observatory next weekend.
Open to the public, the events will be on June 10 and 11, and they run from 9:30-11:00 p.m. The observatory is located on the corner of Forest and College roads.
Shane Horvatin, the education coordinator at Abrams Planetarium, said the open houses are held once a month during the warmer months of the year, close to the first quarter moon. They are family friendly and have smaller telescopes for children.
“The whole point of the observing session is to introduce people to the night sky,” he said.
The big telescope in the observatory will be open and there also will be several smaller telescopes set out in front, he said. The public can wander around looking at the different telescopes.
Horvatin said university and other local astronomy experts will be available to answer questions.
The events are pretty well known, Horvatin said. Depending on the weather and activity in the night sky, the open houses usually draw about 100 attendees per night. Some events in the past have drawn up to 2,000 attendees.
The open houses are sponsored by Abrams Planetarium, the Physics and Astronomy Department, and the Capital Area Astronomy Association.
Horvatin said parking is available on site.
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