4/8/22 Detroit Observatory ReOpening event.
Experience history and astronomy at the Detroit Observatory! We are excited to start off Astronomy night with a feature talk from U-M Astronomy Professor Emily Rauscher called Weird and Wacky Weather on Extrasolar Worlds. Many of the exoplanets that have been found orbiting around nearby stars have atmospheres completely unlike any in our Solar System....
Did you know that the Detroit Observatory didn't stop working on cloudy days? A rainy day can be a nuisance when you're trying to observe the cosmos, but that didn't stop our astronomers! In the 1880's the Detroit Observatory became a hotbed for meteorological research, with staff and instruments dedicated to observing and recording the...
This tour will explore questions such as: How did the Diag change from pasture to the tree-covered expanse it is today? Before the President’s House was the President’s House, what was it? What do the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Badawademi have to do with the founding of the University? Why is a plaque commemorating the admission...
This walking tour meets at the corner of S. University Ave. and State St., on the outer northwest corner of the Law Quad. Have you ever wondered about the history of the buildings that sit in the middle of campus that many associate with the Renaissance, east coast Ivy Leagues, or even Hogwarts? This walking...
Experience history, astronomy, and the weather at the Detroit Observatory! Starting this March, we are excited to feature new exhibits around meteorology and the eclipse! Open houses involve tours through the historic observatory, instruction on the telescopes, and, when weather permits, night sky observing with our historic Fitz telescope as well as modern telescopes.
This walking tour meets at the Detroit Observatory and concludes on the Diag. This tour was also adapted from a public history course at U-M. The first teach-in. Lawsuits. Nazi resistance. U-M has long been home to campus activism, and this walking tour will allow you to see historically significant locations on campus where you...
This walking tour meets at the corner of S. University Ave. and State St., on the outer northwest corner of the Law Quad. Have you ever wondered about the history of the buildings that sit in the middle of campus that many associate with the Renaissance, east coast Ivy Leagues, or even Hogwarts? This walking...
This tour will explore questions such as: How did the Diag change from pasture to the tree-covered expanse it is today? Before the President’s House was the President’s House, what was it? What do the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Badawademi have to do with the founding of the University? Why is a plaque commemorating the admission...
This walking tour meets at the Detroit Observatory and concludes on the Diag. This tour was also adapted from a public history course at U-M. The first teach-in. Lawsuits. Nazi resistance. U-M has long been home to campus activism, and this walking tour will allow you to see historically significant locations on campus where you...
This tour will explore questions such as: How did the Diag change from pasture to the tree-covered expanse it is today? Before the President’s House was the President’s House, what was it? What do the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Badawademi have to do with the founding of the University? Why is a plaque commemorating the admission...
Join the Detroit Observatory for a special Astronomy Night featuring solar eclipses! This unique Astronomy Night will feature a talk by Austin Edmister, Assistant Director for Astronomy. Learn about the long history of eclipse expeditions by observatory staff, see original photo plates from a 1932 solar eclipse, and learn about the upcoming solar eclipse! Talk is...
The Detroit Observatory in Ann Arbor invites you out for a night of confusion and delight. To celebrate the many strange happenings throughout astronomical history, we will be presenting a series of short talks designed to test the limits of your history and astronomy knowledge. Each talk could be about something true, something wrong, or...something...
This tour will explore questions such as: How did the Diag change from pasture to the tree-covered expanse it is today? Before the President’s House was the President’s House, what was it? What do the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Badawademi have to do with the founding of the University? Why is a plaque commemorating the admission...
This walking tour meets at the corner of S. University Ave. and State St., on the outer northwest corner of the Law Quad. Have you ever wondered about the history of the buildings that sit in the middle of campus that many associate with the Renaissance, east coast Ivy Leagues, or even Hogwarts? This walking...
Join the U-M Detroit Observatory in Ann Arbor for a 70s themed event on Friday, April 5th from 8-10:30pm! Learn about an observatory that lived through both the 1870s and 1970s, from the height of its discoveries to its near-total demise in 1976. Enjoy refreshements, music, socializing, historic telescopes, and 70s themed programming in the...
This tour will explore questions such as: How did the Diag change from pasture to the tree-covered expanse it is today? Before the President’s House was the President’s House, what was it? What do the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Badawademi have to do with the founding of the University? Why is a plaque commemorating the admission...
This walking tour meets at the corner of S. University Ave. and State St., on the outer northwest corner of the Law Quad. Have you ever wondered about the history of the buildings that sit in the middle of campus that many associate with the Renaissance, east coast Ivy Leagues, or even Hogwarts? This walking...
Observing the Heavens, Exploring the Past
Come see the sky with us.
Journey back in time with us.
Visitors have opportunities to observe the sky using Observatory telescopes. Inside the dome, the Fitz telescope provides wonderful views of the moon, planets, and stars. See Saturn’s rings, Jupiter’s moons, and the light from stars that have traveled for hundreds of years or longer. And we now offer daytime observing of the Sun, using appropriate safety precautions.
Every look through the telescope is also a look into the past. And join us also to explore a human past — the past of the University of Michigan and its place in history. Lectures, cultural events, exhibits, and tours all have a home at the Observatory.
Observing experiences will be accompanied by explanatory presentations and exhibits and will be led by trained astronomers.
All events are free. Events that require a printed or digital ticket are listed in the calendar above.
4/15/22 Detroit Observatory open house event and telescope viewing.
Entry to the Observatory on Thursdays and Fridays, noon to 5:00 pm, is free and on a walk-in basis. Our docents and staff will be happy to guide you through the Observatory’s attractions.
Noon to 2:30 pm: we offer historical tours of the building and astronomical tours of the telescopes, with solar observing if weather permits.
2:30 pm to 5:30 pm: we offer historical walking tours of campus, as described below, and astronomical tours of the telescopes, with solar observing if weather permits.
Entry to the Observatory for other scheduled events — astronomical, historical, and cultural — requires a printed or digital ticket, which can be acquired through advance registration. All events are free.
The reasons for advance registration is our wish to foster a more intimate, rich experience for visitors and our need to gauge attendance to our current level of staffing and operations.
Openings are limited and will depend on the nature of the event, so please book your visit well in advance. The Observatory offers talks, presentations, observing — both nighttime and daytime — and tours. Check the calendar above for special events and registration.
Explore the heavens during one of our astronomy sessions. Sessions involve presentations on a range of fascinating astronomical phenomena, instruction on the telescopes, and, when weather permits, observing with our beautiful historic Fitz telescope as well as modern supplemental telescopes. We offer both nighttime observing and daytime observing of the Sun (with all necessary safety precautions). Please note: astronomy events at the Observatory take place even if the weather does not permit observing. We strive to always have interesting things for you to do.
This tour covers both the original building and the addition. Learn about the telescopes, see why the observatory was constructed the way it was, hear about the astronomers who walked its floors in the 19th century — and the discoveries they made — and understand what we hoped to gain by construction of the addition.
Our docents will be excited to lead you on one of the following walking tours of campus, Fridays beginning at noon or 2:30 pm. We also offer group tours by request, for groups of 5 or more. Please make a request through the form on the Contact page.
Join us for a 1.5-hour walking tour covering highlights of the first 70 years of U-M history on the original 40-acre campus. This tour will explore questions such as: What do the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Badawademi have to do with the founding of the University? How did the Diag change from pasture to the tree-covered expanse it is today? What was life like for U-M’s original students in Ann Arbor? Before the President’s House was the President’s House, what was it? Why is a plaque commemorating the admission of women located in Angell Hall?
The Paths of Protest tour will allow you to see historically significant locations on campus where you will learn about protests on campus. Over the course of 1.5 hours, we will cover women’s activism, the legacy of the Treaty of Fort Meigs for Native students, the Black Action Movement, anti-Vietnam War activism, and more. While this tour will emphasize the 1960s and 1970s on campus, we will also go back in time to the founding of U-M and explore more recent instances of activism.
The Origins of the Law Quadrangle tour seeks to familiarize you not only with the illustrious, imposing architecture of the Law Quadrangle here at the University of Michigan but also with the historic presence of the Law School itself. Over the course of 1.5 hours, we will discuss the conception of the buildings themselves, the winding roads it took to get there, and the Law School’s many years of influence on social issues and legal education as we stroll through the Quad.
Getting to the Observatory
The U-M Detroit Observatory is located at 1398 E. Ann Street (at the corner of Ann and Observatory Streets) in Ann Arbor, MI. Please use the entrance to the addition on Observatory Street; the old entrance facing Ann Street is no longer used for entry.
Our Hours:
Fridays noon to 5:00 pm for walk-in visits. Need a special group tour? Use the form on the Contact Us page to get started.
Parking
Daytime weekdays: Parking is very limited around the Observatory during the daytime, Monday through Friday. There is metered parking along Ann Street and Observatory Street. The University’s Palmer Drive Parking Structure, off Washtenaw by Palmer Commons, offers paid visitor parking during the daytime ($1.80/hour; operating hours are 8:00am to 10:00pm, Mon-Sat). Visitors may also choose to use Ann Arbor city lots or other U-M visitor lots farther away and walk or bus to the Observatory.
Evenings and weekends: Some area lots and structures are open evenings and weekends, and permit parking is not enforced. The Ann Street Parking Structure (M86), the Catherine Street Structure (M5), the Glen Street Structure (M61), and the School of Public Health II Lot are usually open after 6:00 pm Mon-Fri and on weekends.
Parking InformationAccessibility
The Detroit Observatory addition and the main floor of the Detroit Observatory building are fully handicapped accessible, but the dome is not, meaning that visitors with mobility issues will not have direct access to the Fitz telescope. Many events will, however, give visitors indirect access to the telescope via video stream from the dome to the other levels of the Observatory. Visitors with accessibility concerns are advised to check the schedule for those events that will include video streaming.
By Bus
The Detroit Observatory is served by Ann Arbor Transit Authority routes 4A and 32B and by U-M Commuter North, Commuter South, and Northwood bus routes.
And please check here for things to take into account when visiting: safety protocols, do’s and don’ts, what to wear, what you can expect, including our COVID policy.
At this time, given the CDC rating of Washtenaw County as LOW community transmission, masks are optional at the Observatory. Please be advised that some locations, such as the dome, are tight spaces where social distancing is not possible.
