Open House

Upcoming Dates	Lecturer	Lecture Topic
Sept. 20, 2024	Dr. Angelle Tanner (Mississippi State University)	Exoplanets From the Moon
Oct. 11, 2024	Dr. Niv Drory (McDonald Observatory, U. Texas at Austin)	Evolution of Galaxies
Nov. 15, 2024	Dr. Stephanie LaMassa (Space Telescope Science Institute)	Galaxies From JWST
Jan. 31, 2025	TBD
Feb. 28, 2025	TBD
March 28, 2025	TBD

Public Lecture at 7 p.m. (Willie Miller Auditorium)

Observations from 8-11 p.m. (College of Arts and Sciences)

Please join us for the Astronomical Observatory Open House nights at ERAU's Daytona Beach campus! These free events allow the campus community and members of the general public of all ages to view the night sky through the Observatory's telescopes, ask questions and learn about our universe. Weather permitting, celestial objects will be visible through a collection of telescopes from the roof-top observing deck and through our new 1-meter telescope from within the large dome.

There are typically several open house events during the fall and spring semesters hosted by ERAU's student Amateur Astronomy Club. Events are on selected Friday nights (see above). A public lecture is hosted at 7 p.m., just before the Astronomy Open House. Observations will follow from 8-11 p.m.

View the sky through many of the Observatory's telescopes and binoculars. We have step stools so kids can reach the eyepiece!

In addition to viewing the night sky through our telescopes, explore our astronomy posters and take a walking tour of the solar system. There is no fixed program for observations and no reservations are necessary. Just drop by to see the stars!

1-Meter Telescope Tickets

Free tickets with tour times are distributed first in the Lobby of the Willie Miller building starting at 6:45 p.m., before the lecture starts, on a first come, first served basis. After the lecture starts at 7 p.m., any remaining tickets will be available in the second-floor lobby of the College of Arts and Science building. Tickets are only available in person and are not distributed until 6:45 p.m. on the night of the event. Due to space limitations in the 1-meter dome, there is a limit to how many people can observe through the 1-meter in a single night.

There are many other activities to explore: view a 3D poster gallery of images from Mars, interact with different types of telescopes and learn how they work, take a walking guided tour of the solar system, interact with our gravity-well simulator, see microscopic meteorites, see rockets built by students, perform physics and chemistry demonstrations with students, view informational astronomy posters, view our astrophotography gallery and more! There is no fixed program for observations and no reservations are necessary. Astronomy Open House nights are proudly sponsored and supported by: Embry-Riddle Observatories, Amateur Astronomy Club, and the Daytona Beach Campus Department of Physical Sciences.

Directions

The Astronomy Open House is no longer located behind the Lehman Engineering Building along the former creek. Please look for our new home in the College of Arts and Sciences Building with the 30-foot observatory dome on top.