Flagstaff, Arizona · A Dark Sky City
The universe, nightly.
Dome shows under a 52-foot star theater, public telescope nights at 7,000 feet, and some of the darkest municipal skies in the country. Bring the kids. Bring a jacket. The photons have traveled a long way to meet you.
In the Dome
Three shows in rotation this season, each produced for our full-dome projection system. Doors close at showtime and the theater goes properly dark, so arrive ten minutes early.
A star's final act can outshine an entire galaxy. Follow a red giant through its last million years, from swelling shell to planetary nebula, narrated with more calm than the subject deserves.
Before Apollo astronauts walked on the Moon, they trained in the volcanic fields outside Flagstaff. A local history of lunar rehearsals, told for families, with plenty of crater-hopping.
Cultures across the world saw a river, a road, or spilled milk. We fly through the actual structure: spiral arms, the galactic core, and our own quiet address in the Orion Spur.
Interactive Sky Map
A simplified view of the southern sky over Flagstaff after dusk this week. Select any object on the dome to see when it rises and how to find it. On telescope nights, our volunteers will point you at all six.
Southern sky, about 9:30 PM this week. Not to scale, but close enough to point with.
Tonight's Sky
Click or tab to any of the six highlighted objects on the dome. You'll get its rise time over the San Francisco Peaks and one honest tip from our telescope volunteers.
On the Observing Deck
Free with evening admission, weather permitting. Our 16-inch reflector and a small fleet of volunteer scopes set up on the north deck. We schedule around the Moon: the darker the sky, the deeper we can look.
| Date | Moon Phase | Featured Targets | Deck Opens |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Aug 1 | Waxing gibbous |
Lunar terminator craters, Saturn at dusk | 8:30 PM |
| Fri, Aug 7 | Full moon |
Full Moon night: rays, maria, and moon-illusion talk | 8:30 PM |
| Sat, Aug 15 | Last quarter |
Jupiter's moons, Albireo double star | 8:15 PM |
| Fri, Aug 21 | Waning crescent |
Milky Way core, Lagoon Nebula | 8:15 PM |
| Sat, Aug 22 | New moon |
Dark-sky night: Andromeda Galaxy, Ring Nebula | 8:15 PM |
| Fri, Aug 28 | Waxing crescent |
Crescent Moon earthshine, Hercules Cluster | 8:00 PM |
| Sat, Aug 29 | First quarter |
Best lunar shadows of the month, Vega and Lyra | 8:00 PM |
Cloudy night? We move indoors for a live sky tour in the dome instead. Check the recorded status line at (928) 555-0180 after 5 PM, or trust the Flagstaff odds: about 280 clear nights a year.
Plan Your Night
We sit at the edge of town at 7,050 feet, ten minutes from downtown Flagstaff. Summer evenings run about 20 degrees cooler than Phoenix. Locals will tell you that's the whole point.
Flagstaff was the world's first International Dark Sky City, and we keep it that way on the deck. Please switch phones to red-light mode or keep them pocketed during telescope sessions, use the red flashlights we hand out at the door, and let the docent's laser do the pointing. Your night vision takes about 20 minutes to build and one screen glance to lose.
For Young Astronomers
Three things worth knowing before you look up. Collected from our school programs, where the best questions come from.
The light from Vega left the star about 25 years ago. When you spot it tonight, you're reading a letter written before you were tall enough for the telescope eyepiece. Some galaxies send mail that's millions of years old.
The wobble happens in the last 60 miles, as starlight bounces through Earth's moving air. Planets shine steadier because they're tiny disks, not points. That's an old trick for telling them apart with just your eyes.
Your fist at arm's length covers about 10 degrees of sky, and a pinky finger covers 1 degree, which is two full Moons. Astronomers use this trick constantly. Nobody looks silly doing it on our deck. Everyone is doing it.