Observatory CLOSED - Maintenance/Renovation
The Wilder Observatory is closed for maintenance and renovation work.
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Some excellent K-12 resources while the Observatory is closed.
"Out of this World" by WorldBook
This unique series is a collaboration between World Book and NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. Scientists tell how they grew from students to inventors and now tackle some of NASA’s biggest challenges. Useful for STEM/STEAM instruction and independent reading.
Educational Resources from WGBH PBS Learning
WGBH in collaboration with NASA presents digital media resources you can use to teach topics in K–12 Earth and Space Science. These free resources are organized into four grade bands. Each resource emphasizes engaging students in phenomena related to core ideas and science and engineering practices of the Next Generation Science Standards.
Located on Snell Street in Amherst, MA, Wilder Observatory is an astronomical observatory equipped with an 18-inch refracting telescope.
The observatory is free and open to all starting at 9 p.m. every clear Saturday, April–October, closed November - March.
Depending on what is visible in the sky at the time, visitors may see the moon, planets, asteroids, comets, multiple stars, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more through the large, world-class refractor telescope.
Wilder Observatory
Built in 1903, the Wilder Observatory on Snell Street holds what was once one of the largest telescopes in the world.
Refractor Telescope
The telescope was built by Alvan Clark & Sons, an American maker of optics that became famous for crafting lenses for some of the largest refracting telescopes of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Starry Night
Depending on what is visible in the sky at the time, visitors may see the moon, planets, asteroids, comets, multiple stars, star clusters, nebulae, galaxies and more.
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