Star Tours

Program Offerings

We provide operators/presenters, visual and EAA telescopes, hands-on instruction and guidance, and printed materials.

Visual Telescopes

Visual telescopes are fitted with eyepieces and allow direct observation by one guest at a time of astronomical targets:

• The operator is responsible for setup, target acquisition, focus, and target tracking during the event,

• The operator instructs guests in the instruments operation and answers questions about the equipment and what is being observed,

• Popular targets include the moon, various planets in our solar system, star clusters, asterisms, bright reflection and emission nebulas, and large galaxies,

• Each visual telescope may handle up to 30 guests per hour, and

• Typical events include views of one to three different astronomical targets.

Electronically Assisted Astrophotography (EAA) Telescopes

EAA telescopes are fitted with a high-resolution astronomy cameras that present the telescope’s live view of the astronomical target on a large monitor allowing small groups of guests to view the target at the same time:

• The operator is responsible for setup, target acquisition, focus, and target tracking during the event,

• The operator converses with guests about the equipment, observed target(s), and answers questions,

• Popular astronomical targets include the moon, the planets in our solar system, star clusters, asterisms, galaxies, and nebula,

• Each EAA telescope may handle up to 30 guests seated or standing with a view of the large monitor, and

• Typical events may include views of up to six (6) targets.

Additional Presentations

Various astronomy-related presentations:

• Meteorite collections,

• Traveling the universe by telescope,

• How to understand the night sky,

• The mathematics of cosmological distances, and

• The history of our universe.