The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has opened a new Public Observatory that contains a 16-inch, 3,000-pound Boller and Chivens telescope, on loan from the Harvard College Observatory. Through this powerful telescope, museum visitors can now observe the sun (with a special filter), the moon and the brighter stars and planets, such as Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, during daylight hours. Funding for the project was provided by the National Science Foundation.
The Public Observatory, on the East Terrace of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is open to the public Tuesdays through Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., weather permitting. It will also be used for educational programs in combination with live presentations in the museum’s Einstein Planetarium.
“The National Air and Space Museum’s mission is to educate and inspire,” says Gen. J.R. “Jack” Dailey, director of the museum. “Looking directly at the sun, moon, planets and stars with a telescope will enable visitors to experience this personal connection with the visible sky and the universe.”
The National Air and Space Museum building on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W.