Our public hours are Wednesday Evenings from 8-10pm, or by appointment. The NIU observatory, mounted on top of Davis hall, is home to a 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain reflecting Telescope, a 60mm Televue refracting telescope, and several other portable 'scopes. Weather permitting the observatory is open for weekly public viewings, and for other groups by appointment. The observatory dome was added to the existing Davis Hall building in 1965. The original telescope was replaced in the year 2000 with funding from the NIU Foundation and NIU dept of Physics. Upgraded go-to controls wireless controls were added in 2024, allowing the telescope to be remotely controlled via tablet. The NIU observatory welcomes hundreds of visitors each year for public viewings, group tours, and other special celestial events.
