<p>Amateur astronomers regularly broadcast their viewing sessions over the Internet on the LiveSkies network. Pluto is within the viewing capabilities of most of the equipment used to broadcast but it just looks like a dim star that can be seen to move over long periods of time.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.liveskies.org/" rel="noreferrer">https://www.liveskies.org/</a></p>
<p>Scroll down to the  View As A Guest Link then click on a live broadcast. There are no schedules. People can broadcast from anywhere but the majority broadcast from North America. If it is dark and clear somewhere in North America someone may be on line.</p>
<p>Many amateur astronomy clubs have their own observatories that are open to the public on occasions. Google amateur astronomy clubs. There is probably a group near you.</p>
<p>Professional observatory time is a valuable commodity. Observatories with &quot;high powered&quot; equipment and skies dark enough for good viewing will have limited if any public access.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-13T23:36:00.820Z
Which ones have "limited access"?
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-13T20:06:55.917Z
2020-12-13T20:06:55.917Z
L d Bonnie
<p>The <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faulkes_Telescope_Project" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Faulkes Telescope project</a> offers educational access to 2-m telescopes in the Canary Islands and Hawaii.</p>
<p>Thanks to @PaulPrice for confirming my hazy recollection. I was observing at the Mt Stromlo 74 inch (1.9m) telescope in Canberra (long since incinerated in a bush fire) in the 1990s when there was a lunar eclipse. The observatory is at the top of a road that the public could access (Weston Creek Rd if memory serves). On that day (I think it was early in the morning) some folks drove up and asked if I could point the telescope at the moon. I did, and we watched it on a TV monitor and through an eyepiece situated at the Coude focus (with its walk-in spectrograph). Happy days.</p>
<p>You'll need a space telescope if you want to resolve Pluto as anything but a star, since its angular diameter is about 0.1 arcsec.</p>
<p>If you mean current, large professional telescopes (i.e. 2m+) that you can turn up and look through, the answer is no, not least because such telescopes don't have eyepieces.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-13T21:59:46.943Z
Sometimes it's not that easy even for astronomers to access premier observatories.  When I observed on the GBT back in 2005-2006, we had to arrange it months in advance.  They estimated operating costs at $2000 an hour.
Connor Garcia
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-13T23:34:55.793Z
@ConnorGarcia cheap. VLT time is valued at around 2-3 times that. But it isn't for sale, it's approximately 8 times oversubscribed by competitive proposals.
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T05:22:59.920Z
Some antique professional telescopes have eyepieces I believe. I once looked through a telescope at https://www.astro.uni-jena.de/ as part of a "long night of science" event. That telescope is housed in a purpose-built dome and must have been a research instrument in the past, and it has an eye piece that you can look through. I don't know anything about its specs, but it was aimed at Saturn and you could clearly see structure in the rings.
N. Virgo
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T16:00:50.747Z
Rumour is that the 8m Subaru telescope has (had?) an eyepiece for the use of the princess that officially opened the facility.
Paul Price
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T16:06:13.933Z
The [Mount Stromlo 74-inch telescope](https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observatories/telescopes/74-inch-reflector) had an eyepiece that was regularly used on open days (before the telescope was destroyed in bushfires). Due to the long focal length (eyepiece was mounted at Coudé) and bad seeing (daytime), you'd just see a white fuzzball "star" frantically moving all over.
Paul Price
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T16:39:34.217Z
Some of "proffesional looking enough", at least (at least when perceived by general public) telescopes do have eyepieces. There is a network of "People's observatories" in Czechia. They usually have telescopes with 20 to 40 cm and their service to public is one of their important tasks. Of course the biggest 2 m scome in Ondrejov does not have an eyepiece now but according to a story a falling eyepiece from this scope almost killed L. Kohoutek (known for his [comet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek)).
Vladimir F Героям слава
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T18:04:11.653Z
@PaulPrice ! I was going to add something about this but I wasn't sure I'd remembered correctly
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T21:11:25.280Z
Even a space telescope isn't going to show you much of Pluto.  The best images we have from Hubble are still just a blurry blob.  We didn't get any decent pictures of that until New Horizons flew by it 5 years ago.  I dare say an extrasolar probe is well beyond the average amateur astronomer's budget...
Darrel Hoffman
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-13T19:56:22.043Z
2020-12-14T18:11:07.917Z
2020-12-14T18:11:07.917Z
ProfRob
<p>The Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton in California has for years allowed the general public to view through their telescopes as part of their <a href="https://www.ucolick.org/main/visit/summer.html" rel="noreferrer">&quot;Summer Series.&quot;</a> Unfortunately, this is canceled this year due to COVID-19. According to the webpage, visitors can view through either the 36&quot; Great Refractor and the 40&quot; Nickel Reflector telescope. I attended this program when I was a kid and saw Saturn through one of these telescopes, a sight that I have never forgotten.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T16:29:41.427Z
2020-12-14T16:29:41.427Z
Wastrel
<p>Are there any observatories with high powered telescopes that also allow public access?</p>
<p>Astronomy is a VERY expensive addiction, because no matter what telescope you get, you always want the next model up.   If we can find an observatory that allows the public to see through their scope in America or Canada, we can make our vacation plans accordingly.  Kids want to see Pluto.  Scopes that powerful are &quot;slightly&quot; over our budget.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-13T19:16:36.470Z
The Arizona/Coursera astronomy course asks you to request an observation on the MicroObservatory -- https://mo-www.cfa.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory/ -- We were very tickled to be able request observation time.  I don't see pluto on the very easy to use list though: https://mo-www.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/OWN/Own.pl
Jack Schmidt
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T04:17:45.760Z
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Pluto will only look like a (faint) star even in the most powerful telescope!
Pierre Paquette
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T12:35:52.417Z
Mount Wilson has 60" and 100" telescopes available for rent; but at $1-5k/night their target market is groups of experienced amateurs not the general public.  https://www.mtwilson.edu/observe/
Dan Is Fiddling By Firelight
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-14T21:13:42.820Z
@PierrePaquette, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to resolve Pluto as a disk several pixels across.
Mark
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-15T01:49:55.993Z
@Mark Yes, but what are a few pixels to a teenager? Nothing to call home about… No “Wow! Factor” whatsoever…
Pierre Paquette
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-12-15T02:06:07.543Z
[Rent an Observatory for a Few Minutes](https://pineriverobservatory.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/try-something-new-rent-an-observatory-for-a-few-minutes/)
Keith McClary
<observatory>
Observatories that allow public access
Bookaholic
# Observatories that allow public access

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-12-13)

Are there any observatories with high powered telescopes that also allow public access?

Astronomy is a VERY expensive addiction, because no matter what telescope you get, you always want the next model up. If we can find an observatory that allows the public to see through their scope in America or Canada, we can make our vacation plans accordingly. Kids want to see Pluto. Scopes that powerful are "slightly" over our budget.

**Tags:** observatory
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The Arizona/Coursera astronomy course asks you to request an observation on the MicroObservatory -- https://mo-www.cfa.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory/ -- We were very tickled to be able request observation time.  I don't see pluto on the very easy to use list though: https://mo-www.cfa.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/OWN/Own.pl  
> **username_2**: Sorry to burst your bubble, but Pluto will only look like a (faint) star even in the most powerful telescope!  
> **username_3**: Mount Wilson has 60" and 100" telescopes available for rent; but at $1-5k/night their target market is groups of experienced amateurs not the general public.  https://www.mtwilson.edu/observe/  
> **username_4**: @PierrePaquette, the Hubble Space Telescope was able to resolve Pluto as a disk several pixels across.  
> **username_2**: @Mark Yes, but what are a few pixels to a teenager? Nothing to call home about… No “Wow! Factor” whatsoever…  
> **username_5**: [Rent an Observatory for a Few Minutes](https://pineriverobservatory.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/try-something-new-rent-an-observatory-for-a-few-minutes/)  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_13 on 2020-12-14. Score: 6 | Accepted answer

The Lick Observatory on Mt. Hamilton in California has for years allowed the general public to view through their telescopes as part of their ["Summer Series."](https://www.ucolick.org/main/visit/summer.html) Unfortunately, this is canceled this year due to COVID-19. According to the webpage, visitors can view through either the 36" Great Refractor and the 40" Nickel Reflector telescope. I attended this program when I was a kid and saw Saturn through one of these telescopes, a sight that I have never forgotten.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2020-12-13. Score: 12

Amateur astronomers regularly broadcast their viewing sessions over the Internet on the LiveSkies network. Pluto is within the viewing capabilities of most of the equipment used to broadcast but it just looks like a dim star that can be seen to move over long periods of time.

<https://www.liveskies.org/>

Scroll down to the View As A Guest Link then click on a live broadcast. There are no schedules. People can broadcast from anywhere but the majority broadcast from North America. If it is dark and clear somewhere in North America someone may be on line.

Many amateur astronomy clubs have their own observatories that are open to the public on occasions. Google amateur astronomy clubs. There is probably a group near you.

Professional observatory time is a valuable commodity. Observatories with "high powered" equipment and skies dark enough for good viewing will have limited if any public access.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: Which ones have "limited access"?  

---

### Answer by username_7 on 2020-12-13. Score: 10

The [Faulkes Telescope project](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faulkes_Telescope_Project) offers educational access to 2-m telescopes in the Canary Islands and Hawaii.

Thanks to @PaulPrice for confirming my hazy recollection. I was observing at the Mt Stromlo 74 inch (1.9m) telescope in Canberra (long since incinerated in a bush fire) in the 1990s when there was a lunar eclipse. The observatory is at the top of a road that the public could access (Weston Creek Rd if memory serves). On that day (I think it was early in the morning) some folks drove up and asked if I could point the telescope at the moon. I did, and we watched it on a TV monitor and through an eyepiece situated at the Coude focus (with its walk-in spectrograph). Happy days.

You'll need a space telescope if you want to resolve Pluto as anything but a star, since its angular diameter is about 0.1 arcsec.

If you mean current, large professional telescopes (i.e. 2m+) that you can turn up and look through, the answer is no, not least because such telescopes don't have eyepieces.

> **Comments:**
> **username_8**: Sometimes it's not that easy even for astronomers to access premier observatories.  When I observed on the GBT back in 2005-2006, we had to arrange it months in advance.  They estimated operating costs at $2000 an hour.  
> **username_7**: @ConnorGarcia cheap. VLT time is valued at around 2-3 times that. But it isn't for sale, it's approximately 8 times oversubscribed by competitive proposals.  
> **username_9**: Some antique professional telescopes have eyepieces I believe. I once looked through a telescope at https://www.astro.uni-jena.de/ as part of a "long night of science" event. That telescope is housed in a purpose-built dome and must have been a research instrument in the past, and it has an eye piece that you can look through. I don't know anything about its specs, but it was aimed at Saturn and you could clearly see structure in the rings.  
> **username_10**: Rumour is that the 8m Subaru telescope has (had?) an eyepiece for the use of the princess that officially opened the facility.  
> **username_10**: The [Mount Stromlo 74-inch telescope](https://rsaa.anu.edu.au/observatories/telescopes/74-inch-reflector) had an eyepiece that was regularly used on open days (before the telescope was destroyed in bushfires). Due to the long focal length (eyepiece was mounted at Coudé) and bad seeing (daytime), you'd just see a white fuzzball "star" frantically moving all over.  
> **username_11**: Some of "proffesional looking enough", at least (at least when perceived by general public) telescopes do have eyepieces. There is a network of "People's observatories" in Czechia. They usually have telescopes with 20 to 40 cm and their service to public is one of their important tasks. Of course the biggest 2 m scome in Ondrejov does not have an eyepiece now but according to a story a falling eyepiece from this scope almost killed L. Kohoutek (known for his [comet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_Kohoutek)).  
> **username_7**: @PaulPrice ! I was going to add something about this but I wasn't sure I'd remembered correctly  
> **username_12**: Even a space telescope isn't going to show you much of Pluto.  The best images we have from Hubble are still just a blurry blob.  We didn't get any decent pictures of that until New Horizons flew by it 5 years ago.  I dare say an extrasolar probe is well beyond the average amateur astronomer's budget...  

---

