Dearborn Observatory

10/02/2026

**2 Oct Parking update** "Game day pricing" for the North Parking garage tonight means $50. Fifty dollars to park 1.4 miles from the stadium. (We do not know if the pricing at the South garage is the same.)

10/01/2026

**Traffic alert near campus on Friday, Oct 2nd!** NU is playing their first game in their new $875 million football stadium Friday evening and we have been told to expect much more traffic than normal and parking restrictions starting Friday afternoon. Here's some information from NU:

"The following parking lots will close at 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 2, to support game day parking operations. Vehicles remaining in these lots after 2 p.m. may be ticketed and towed at the owner's expense.

Cook Hall Lot
Sheridan/Haven/Noyes Lot
Northwestern Place/Garrett Lot
Library Place Lot
619 Clark Street Lot
711 Elgin Road Lot
The North and South parking garages will close at 4 p.m. in order to allow for game day parking starting at 4:45 p.m."

It is unclear to us what exactly "game day parking" in the garages means. That might mean that the parking rates will go up, or it might mean that you can only park in the garages with a special permit. Sorry that we don't have more detailed information at this time.

09/27/2026

Fall & Winter hours have begun! Beginning Oct 2, 2026 our reservation hour moves to 8-9 pm and walk-in hour is from 9-10 pm.

08/24/2026

There will be a partial lunar eclipse this Thursday, Aug 27, 2026. The weather forecasts look good for the Chicago area, so head outside this Thursday evening between 9:30 pm (ish) and 1:00 am (ish) to view a partial lunar eclipse. (Lunar eclipses are 100% safe to observe without any special equipment!) Please note that the Dearborn will NOT be holding a viewing event for this eclipse (most of our hosts are away on summer break).

You can find more detailed information on the timing of the eclipse here: https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/in/usa/chicago?iso=20260828

And feel free to post your photos of the eclipse here; we'd love to see them!

Start time, end time, animation, and detailed viewing information for the upcoming eclipse in Chicago, Illinois, USA

01/21/2026

**Closed on Jan 23, 2026.** Due to the extremely cold temperatures being forecast for Friday, we are canceling the public observing session this week. (Saturn is great, of course, but viewing it is not worth frostbite!) Stay warm!

03/14/2025

The Dearborn staff had a great time this morning hosting over 200 visitors for our lunar eclipse viewing event! Thanks to everyone who came and we hope to see you all back for the next lunar eclipse on March 3, 2026.

01/15/2025

Some photos of the 13 Jan 2025 occultation of Mars taken by NU students. Well done and thanks to Brooke, Brett, Henry, and Jack for sharing these!

12/14/2024

Happy Holidays from the Dearborn! A reminder to all of our guests (past and future) that the Dearborn will be closed for the Holidays on Dec 20th, 27th, and Jan 3rd. We re-open to the public on Jan 10, 2025. Happy New Year!

10/16/2024

On Oct 17, 18, & 19th there will be football-related parking restrictions around the Dearborn. (But it's the last time for this season!):

Dear members of the Northwestern community,

We want to share important updates regarding parking in advance of the Saturday, Oct. 19 Northwestern versus University of Wisconsin football game at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium.

Parking restrictions prior to football game

Cook Hall Lot

To accommodate preparations for the game, the south end of the Cook Hall parking lot will be closed beginning Thursday, Oct. 17 at 6pm. The remaining section of the Cook Hall lot will close at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct 17. The lot will reopen Sunday, Oct. 20.

Vehicles in the Cook Hall lot after 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17 will be commercially towed.

Additional parking updates

Please also note the following parking garage and lots will close at 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18:

North Garage
Noyes/Haven/Sheridan Lot
Northwestern Place Lot
Library Place Lot
Blomquist Gym Lot
South Beach Lot – Upper Level
Vehicles in the above-listed parking garage and lots after 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 18 will be commercially towed.

For questions regarding the parking updates in this message, please contact the Evanston Parking Office at [email protected] or 847-491-3319.

Thank you,

Merrill Silverman
Director, Transportation & Parking
Department of Safety & Security

10/04/2024

**Parking restrictions near Dearborn on Oct 4th** Because of the football game on Oct 5th, we want to pass along this notice about parking:

Cook Hall Lot:
To accommodate preparations for the game, the south end of the Cook Hall parking lot will be closed beginning Thursday, Oct. 3 at 8 a.m. The remaining section of the Cook Hall lot will close at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3. The lot will reopen Sunday, Oct. 6.

Vehicles in the remaining section of the Cook Hall lot after 10 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3 will be commercially towed.

Please also note the following parking garage and lots will close at 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4:

North Garage
Noyes/Haven/Sheridan Lot
Northwestern Place Lot
Library Place Lot
Blomquist Gym Lot
South Beach Lot – Upper Level

Vehicles in the above-listed parking garage and lots after 10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 4 will be commercially towed.

For questions regarding the parking updates in this message, please contact the Evanston Parking Office at [email protected] or 847-491-3319.