Observatory
The Observatory will be open on March 6, from 8:00pm - 10:00pm. If it is clear, we will take out telescopes and look at some beautiful astronomical objects. We also give a tour of the facility, which includes the one-tenth scale model of the Hale Telescope at Mt. Palomar and images that we have taken with the telescopes on campus.
The Observatory will be open the first and third Fridays of the month for the winter/spring: February 6 and 20, March 6, April 3 and 17, and May 1 and 15. Please note the observatory will not be open on Friday, March 20. Beginning in April, the observatory will be open from 8:30pm-10:30pm. No prior reservations are required, but if you have a group of greater than 10 people that you would like to bring to the observatory, call 607-962-9494 and leave a message with a phone number so we can return your call.
Parking for the Observatory is available in the Digital Dome parking lot. Parking at the Observatory is reserved for our visitors who require accessible parking. All of our events are free and open to the public!
If you are interested in attending a Digital Dome Show, please check out their link here.
EVENTS
Artemis - Back to the Moon!
Talk given by Deborah Dann, Professor of Astronomy and Geology, Director of the Eileen Collins Observatory, Corning Community College
March 6, 2026
7:30pm at the Eileen Collins Observatory
Our next meeting of the Elmira-Corning Astronomical Society will feature a talk given by Deborah Dann.
Humans are going back to the Moon with the Artemis mission! You may have seen this in the news, but this talk will give you some of the details of the mission. When are we going? How long will we be there? Who is going? How are we getting there? This trip will be a little different than when we went to the Moon in the 1960’s, but we are going back! Come join us at the Eileen Collins Observatory to hear more!
The meeting is free and open to the public. Please park in the lower lot (near the Digital Dome) as parking near the Observatory is reserved for those needed special accommodations.
Total Lunar Eclipse
March 3, 2026
Please note the observatory will not be open for this event due to the early hour and the unpredictability of the weather. This is an event you can see without the aid of a telescope!
Partial eclipse of the moon begins around 4:50am on Tuesday, March 3. Totality begins around 6am with the maximum eclipse around 6:30am. Moonset occurs around 6:40am, so we will not get to see the rest of the eclipse.
You can check out Time and Date March 3 Lunar Eclipse for more info!
TELESCOPES
We have many types and sizes of telescopes here at our Observatory. Our two largest telescopes are both reflectors — the 20" and the 16". Our 20" telescope is the one-tenth scale model of the Hale Telescope at Mount Palomar in California.
We have 14", 12", 10", 8", and 6" reflectors that were built by members of the Elmira-Corning Astronomical Society. We have 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain reflectors in addition to 4" refractors and a solar telescope.
Everything at the observatory is free and open to the public! Please note that most of our time is spent outside, if the weather is clear. So please dress for the weather!
Parking is available in the Planetarium parking lot. The only parking at the Observatory is reserved for our visitors requiring accessible parking.
Questions?
Deborah Dann, Director of the Observatory