Oct. 3, 2026
Saturday / 1:00 PM
The Observatory offers programs exploring the history of astronomy and the history of the University of Michigan. We’re open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Admission is always free!
Check our calendar for programs and events!
Learn more about this newly reimagined, one-of-a-kind place, where the spirit of science and discovery link the past and present.
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Join us this Friday, October 2, from 7-9 pm for a special event in partnership with the U-M Department of Afroamerican and African Studies! Under Harriet’s Sky explores what the night sky would have looked like during the Civil War, when Harriet Tubman led people to freedom on the Underground Railroad. This event honors the visit of Edda Fields-Black, professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University and author of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize-winning book “COMBEE: Harriet Tubman, the Combahee River Raid, and Black Freedom during the Civil War.”
The evening will feature presentations from DAAS Chair Bénédicte Boisseron and Assistant Director of Astronomy Austin Edmister, along with a screening of “Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked: Requiem for Rice” (composed by Jonathan Wineglass, libretto by Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black), the first symphonic work about slavery on rice plantations.
After the event, we will be observing the night sky using historic and modern telescopes (weather permitting). The event is free and open to the public!
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This August, Observatory staff traveled to Spain, France, and England for the Alliance of Historic Observatories (AHO) 2026 General Assembly. 🌟🏛️
Austin Edmister, our Assistant Director for Astronomy and President of AHO, joined fellow AHO members in Zaragoza, Spain, to experience the August 12 total solar eclipse.
Our Director, Gregory Parker, and several of our student docents then joined Austin at Pic du Midi Observatory, in the Pyrenees, for the conference. With almost 150 years of scientific research in a dramatic mountain landscape, it was a fitting site for this year’s gathering.
The team then headed to London to visit Royal Observatory Greenwich, where they explored the collection of historic timekeeping and navigational instruments, experienced a behind-the-scenes tour of its conservation lab, viewed the iconic Great Equatorial Telescope, and saw the Prime Meridian. 🔭
It was a wonderful week of learning, exploring, and connecting with fellow astronomy, observatory, and history professionals from around the world! 🌠
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Celebrate the start of Wolverine football season with a journey through U-M’s past! On September 5 from 12-5 pm the Judy and Stanley Frankel Detroit Observatory will screen vintage Michigan football films on its 14-foot video screen alongside a pop-up exhibit of historic football materials from the Bentley Historical Library. 🏈
Archivists will be there to share stories, answer questions, and help bring maize-and-blue history to life! 〽️ Find more information on our website: detroitobservatory.umich.edu/event/vintage-victors-historic-u-m-football-films/
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