October 2024: Many students including Engineering and Physics showed up for the first public open night of fall semester. Though it was cloudy, folks got tours of the observatory and heard about the work our student astronomers are doing. This very interested young man joined in and his mom said “My son had the best birthday ever and we all learned so much. I know he really appreciated all of you taking the time to treat his questions seriously and he left saying he was definitely going to be a scientist when he grows up. I know you are all so smart but you are even kinder!”
March 20, 2024: Open Night at the observatory! This event is free and open to the public, all ages are welcome!
- "How to see and photograph the April Solar Eclipse” by Imelda Joson and Edwin Aguirre in HSS-140.
- Astronomers will offer views through the telescopes (weather permitting) both in the south campus field and in the observatory after the presentation.
February 15, 2024: Join us at 6 p.m. for an exciting Open Night at the observatory! Our astronomers will be on hand to guide you through captivating views of the night sky, both in the field and within the observatory. Free admission for all ages! Don't miss this celestial experience.
- Riverview Field, UMass Lowell South Campus
- Free parking at 900 Broadway St.
- Free admission
May 11, 2023: Join us for a talk by Silas Laycock, Ph.D. on “A Guide for Summer Stargazing" from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Dugan Hall 101 followed by views through the telescopes (weather permitting) in South Campus field.
April 13, 2023: Liam Neely presented a talk on his capstone project "Observing exoplanet transits with Schueller Observatory" at 7 p.m. in Dugan Hall, Room 210 followed by views through the telescopes (weather permitting) in South Campus field.
February 9, 2023: Schueller Observatory Public Open Night. 6:30-7:30 p.m. “Searching for the First Stars – Traveling to the ends of the Earth to see the beginnings of the Universe” by Rigel Cappallo – Dugan 102, 7:30-8:30 p.m. Viewing through various sized telescopes in South Campus Field – astronomers will be on hand.
December 8, 2022: 6-6:45 p.m. in Dugan 206, astronomers will give talks on “Holiday gift guide: Is a telescope or other astronomy gear on your loved-one’s wish list but you need help deciding? We can help”. From 6:45 - 7 p.m. Liam Neely will take about “What’s in the sky tonight.
October 13, 2022: Our next observatory open night is Thursday, Oct 13 at 6:30 p.m. in Dugan 101. “What’s up in the Sky Tonight by undergraduate student Liam Neely followed by “Life in the Universe” by graduate student Nicholas Sorabella. Astronomers will be on hand to offer views through the telescopes (weather permitting) until about 8:30 p.m. Free event open to the public, all ages welcome. For more information email observatory@uml.edu
September 15, 2022: “What’s in the Sky Tonight” was presented by undergraduate student Liam Neely (7-7:15 p.m.) followed by “Beginners Mobile/DSLR Astrophotography” by graduate student Sayantan Bhattacharya (7:15-7:35 p.m.)
August 10, 2022: The next public open night is Wednesday, August 10 at 8 p.m. in UMass Lowell’s south campus field. Check out “what’s in the sky tonight” using various sized telescopes! Free event, all ages welcome.
July 2022: Bring you own telescope night at Schueller Observatory was a great success. There were 8 telescopes in total during the "Bring you own telescope night" event. Thank you all for coming!
June 2022: The Spring into Science talk. You will then be asked to start the livestream with a second click on the lower right-hand side of the screen.
April 13, 2022: 6:30-7:30 p.m. - After a talk on "What’s in the Sky" tonight by undergraduate student Liam Neely, graduate student Thaddeus Potter presented "High Altitude Balloons and the Search for Exoplanets: The PICTURE-C Observatory".
- Watch the Spring into Science talk.
March 16, 2022: The Schueller Observatory held a public open night from 6-9 p.m. Hear all about Pulsars with graduate student, Ankur Roy followed by “What’s up in the night sky this month” which will be presented by undergraduate student, Liam Neely (Coburn Hall 140). Following the talks, the observatory will be open until 9 p.m. (sunset will be 6:51 p.m.).
February 9, 2022: The Schueller Observatory held a public open night from 6-9 p.m. 6-6:30 p.m. –"What’s in the Sky"? - and "Gravitational Lensing and Black Holes” by Nick Sorabella (Coburn 255)
November 4, 2021: The Schuelller Observatory held a public open night from 6-9 p.m.
October 7, 2021: The Schueller Observatory held a public open night from 6-9 p.m. which was a great success with many students bringing their parents to the event. These will continue the first Thursday of every month. Free parking is available starting after 3 p.m. in the Broadway Lot of UMass Lowell on south campus. A virtual campus map is available to help locate parking. In the image to the right Silas Laycock is giving a talk about the observatory and its history.
May, 2021: A new focuser was installed at the Schueller Observatory and final calibrations were done. The observatory is fully functional and can be operated remotely. An observational astronomy class will be held in the fall at the university.
December, 2020: Construction on the observatory is completed. Small projects are still being done, but we are hoping to hold remote observation sessions in the Spring 2021 semester.
October 8, 2020: An article by UMass Lowell's Katharine Webster was published on Shanice Kelly and Michele Woodland and the work they do at the observatory and on campus, titled "Honors Students Set Sights on the Stars."
April, 2020: The grand opening of the observatory was postponed.
January 6, 2020: The latest news on the Observatory is that the last part of the electrical work and dome drive setup are going on this week. The target date of completion is the week of January 20. The grand opening will be in April.
November 22, 2019: The latest news on the Observatory being built on South Campus is the electrical crew busy inside doing fit out and next week IT fiber will be installed. They hope to have power live in the building the first week of December and project completion date is pushing out towards late December.
November 7, 2019: The latest news on the construction of the Observatory on South Campus is that the dome was installed this week. Next the electricity and data lines go in. Followed by motorization, lighting, etc. the building inspector is expected to do final inspections the week of December 6-13. So allowing several weeks to get the systems installed, operators trained, etc., we’re looking at the new year.