The Observatory offers programs exploring the history of astronomy and the history of the University of Michigan. We’re open Thursdays, Fridays, and select 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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For over 170 years, the Observatory has watched campus transform—and campus has watched the Observatory transform, too! In 1908, a classroom wing was added where the modern addition stands today, shown here in this early photo. 📸
The classroom wing also included a larger observatory dome equipped with a 37.5-inch refracting telescope. Parts of the telescope were built in the Observatory Shop, which was formerly located in the basement of the Observatory! 🔭
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On this day in 1878, Detroit Observatory Director James Craig Watson claimed a remarkable discovery: Vulcan, a long-theorized but never-confirmed planet believed to orbit between Mercury and the Sun.
Watson was in Wyoming to observe the total solar eclipse, which his wife Annette sketched during the expedition. By that time, he had earned an international reputation as one of the era’s leading astronomers. 🔭
Watson became the first professional astronomer to claim an observation of Vulcan, further elevating his fame. He was later disproven; many astronomers believed he likely saw either a star or an optical illusion. Though Watson was wrong about Vulcan, Watson’s legacy remains impressive: he discovered 22 asteroids over his career, 21 of them at the Detroit Observatory. ☄️
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On this day in 1892, U-M alum William J. Hussey sketched the planet Mars while observing through the Lick Observatory's powerful telescope in California. Based on what he saw, Hussey and other astronomers believed the planet was crossed by artificially constructed channels. 🔭
His drawings are among the earliest visual depictions of the "canals" on Mars—a theory that persisted for decades before being disproven in 1965, when NASA captured the first close-up photographs of the planet.
Hussey later became the Detroit Observatory's fifth director, serving from 1905 to 1926.
To clarify: Hussey sketched what he saw on Mars, but did not necessarily believe in "artificial" canals on the planet. However, he does mention looking for them in this series of observations with fellow astronomer John Martin Schaeberle: "Mr. Shaeberle (sic) sees traces of canals but the seeing is poor and 'the images did not last long enough to make drawing.'"
At the time, many astronomers were debating the appearance of Mars. Close observations, like Hussey's, were part of the exciting exploration of observing.
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