Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter Observatory

It was a fantastic program! Guides - Rob and team are so sweet and helpful. I was running late and stressed that the gates will be closed but they called me and found out how to join me to the group! 👏 I saw Saturn 🪐, Neptune, Arcturus, Andromeda galaxy, star 💫clusters and much more. As well as a green flash at the sunset 🌅

This experience was one of the highlights of our trip to Tucson! Roz and Jeronimo were so sweet and informational. We were worried we were running late but called Roz and they made sure to open the gates for us. Wouldn’t trade this experience for any other!

We visited on Nov 14. When we met our guides we were told that some people would have to drive their vehicle up to the site because the vans were full. How can that be? The vans hold 28, the published trip capacity. However the University decided to add another group who hadn’t booked. Our guides were excellent-very informative, passionate and engaging. We had a very large group and there was a LOT of standing in line waiting. The telescope they usually use was down for repair so they set us up with a smaller one, which unfortunately held fewer people. Our guides also set up a small portable telescope but unfortunately with the full moon, it was more difficult to find things to look at with the small telescope. We saw Jupiter, Saturn, the moon, a comet and a few constellations. Lineups to look in the telescope were long and it was cold. But the views were great! Lineups for the bathroom were also long and our night was quite late. Overall I think this could have been a 5 star trip had the University held to their published quota and not allowed unreserved participants to join.

We really enjoyed this experience! Dress in layers, it cools off quick. Michael was a great guide.

This is a great program with very real, scientific information. If you are looking for a quick peek at stars, this is not for you. It is an investment in time, but for my daughter and I, it was so worth it. We saw Saturn and Jupiter through the largest telescope available to civilians. We saw nebulas and star clusters. We saw the milky way and the Andromeda galaxy, and shooting stars! It was a wonderful experience. Tracie and Jeronimo were amazing tour guides. And although dinner is just sandwiches, they were very good sandwiches and plenty of food for the evening. We plan to come back when we are in the area and bring my husband! So cool! Literally. Bring layers of clothing!

Exceptional experience. I very much enjoyed it.staff are wonderful, patient and informative. Will for sure be back in later months to see more. I showed up hours early to explore, I ended up doing a ski lift down the road for a great view.

We joined their 5-hr education program which gave us wonderful opportunities to view the green flare of sunset, the star clusters, Saturn, Jupiter and the moon through gigantic telescopes. What you see varies day to day depending on the weather. Check out their website. Very nice staff. Tracie and Michael were fantastic guides. They took very good care of us in addition to giving us fabulous explanations of everything. Bring BIG jackets with you!!

Great experience with the SkyCenter program! Like everyone else says . .dress in layers. . And if you have insulated boots, wear them!! Only downside of the program was the number of people squished into vans to get to the observatory and then in the observatory. Lots of time waiting to view from the telescope (but the program leaders were great and kept up a good educational dialogue).

Signed up for the astronomical sky tour using the 32" telescope for observations. Because I taught Astronomy to college students way back in the 80's, I was excited to be able to look through a telescope larger than the 16" scope I have. Luckily the sky mostly cleared before we started our observation session. Of all the things we looked at, Jupiter was the best looking thing we observed. We lucked out because the Great Red Spot was visible and I really wish I'd had more time at the eyepiece. Our instructor was great. She was very animated and excited about her subject. All in all a very enjoyable evening. Worth the price of admission.

Definitely worth doing if you can! Got to see Jupiter and 4 moons! Star clusters, constellations, supernovae, and shooting stars. Pretty epic. 4 stars because there weren't many vegetarian options for food (all sandwiches had meat in them. If ur veggie or picky bring your own packed lunch)

My friend from NYC came to town to visit. At first, the price per person makes your eyes go wide ($65 per person), but after the entire night, it is WORTH 5Xs as much as the price! It was magnificent! We saw the sunset and the green flash, the International Space Center, galaxies and stars and planets and OH MY! It was so educational and interesting. It is SO cold (about 30 degrees) so I was glad I brought a lot of layers! They do sell sweatshirts in the gift shop, that my friend bought. We had two instructors and they were so knowledgeable and answered every question. It is an AMAZING experience that I'll always remember! LOVED!!! MUST DO!!!

It was great. Very informative, we were able to see many stars and planets through the telescope

Great educational experience and a lot of fun too! For a couple hours in the evening, Adam, our tour guide, did a great job teaching and engaging us in astronomy and the constellations. A light dinner was also served. We got to view the sky with 32 inch telescope and see in amazing detail the craters on our moon, the planet Jupiter with its 4 moons, some nebulas, a dying star, galaxies, and many other fascinating objects in our sky. We also spent quite a bit of time outside identifying stars and constellations outside with our naked eyes and with binoculars, as well as viewing the setting sun. Completely worth the trip up to Mt. Lemmon, although it gets very cold up there - make sure to bring a winter jacket, gloves, and a warm hat! It is so easy to see that this educational outreach program is a labor of love for Adam, and he makes astronomy so fun and easy to understand for people with all different backgrounds and levels of knowledge in astronomy. Because Tucson is such an ideal place to view the skies, everyone should take the opportunity to visit this place and take a peek inside the telescopes - it's an opportunity not very many people can say they have done, but it's been a privilege and a wonderful experience for me that I hope more people can get to experience the night program as well.