High Rock Tower Observatory

Apologies we are currently closed due to telescope repair; however, you can still observe the night sky with just your unaided eyes. Tonight (and indeed the next several nights), look West- Northwest about 40-45 minutes after sunset and you'll see Jupiter and Venus shining very brightly and close together. If you have very good eyes, you may also spot Mercury

Venus and Jupiter are almost their closest together this evening, 1.8° apart . . . tomorrow they'll be in conjunction.
https://buff.ly/PkPbrGF

Happy Friday! What was your favorite memory at High Rock Tower? Comment below :)

If you can see only one celestial event this April,
see this one.

Perhaps the most enchanted evening scenes this year!
On April 18, 19, & 20, look low in the west-northwest 60 minutes after sunset.
• On the first evening, the crescent moon, glowing full with earthshine, floats near brilliant Venus, while on the second evening, it moves just above the delicate Pleiades star cluster, and to the right of the bright star Aldebaran and the intriguing Hyades star cluster.
• On the third evening, the slightly thicker, but more pronounced crescent moon hangs above the Pleiades and the Hyades.
• Above it all, bright Jupiter plows through Gemini, shining near Castor and Pollux.

Apologies everyone, but we will not be open tonight due to the rain. Hopefully we get better luck in the coming weeks to open. We badly need the rain, but we are eager to look at the night sky!

Our next open night will be April 24. You can register here:

Register here for a Starry Starry Night at High Rock Tower Welcome to 2026! We are open to the public weather permitting at sunset once or twice a month. This form will give us the info to plan for your arrival and contact you with event updates/cancellations. We will cancel if the forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies. We'll send you a confirmation/cancel...