observatory

Muskegon Astronomical Society
8851 White Road
Muskegon, Michigan 49442

	Latitude: 43°15'49"N Longitude: 86°01'25"W Altitude: 208m Magnetic Declination: 05°7'00"W

The Muskegon Astronomical Society operates an observatory located in the Muskegon Wastewater system. Go 9 miles East on Apple Ave. to Maple Island Road. Turn left on Maple Island Road and drive 2.1 miles north. Past White Road. On your right you will see two sign tablets, marking the entrance to the wastewater. Go thru the entrance gate and drive 2.1 miles east. One mile past the wastewater offices. You will see our observatory on your right.

For driving directions, click this customized link to mapquest.com. If you use other mapping web sites or software, you might find our street address listed in the white road subdivision (if at all). In that event, find Maple Island Road and White Road, then go north on Maple Island a block or so to the wastewater entrance. From there, you still need to go thru the entrance gate and drive 2.1 miles east.

If you wish to visit our facility, contact us via (give us a few hours to respond). Our facility telephone number is (231) 788-0666.

Normally, members are at the observatory on clear weekends when there is no bright moon in the sky. Open houses, however, are scheduled events hosted by members. We might give a tour of the facility or a talk. We’ll try to introduce you to amateur astronomy and have plenty of handouts on how to get started.

If an open house is cloudy, it’s cancelled. A sign on our club house will indicate if the facility is closed.

If you wish to bring a group to an open house or schedule a special event, please contact us before the next regular meeting. Any such event would have to be discussed and approved ahead of time.

Click here for our facility attendance predictor. This JavaScript sheet computes the probably that members will be at our observatory on a given night: Factors include day of week, month of year, weather, moon visibility, and any scheduled open houses.

Click here for a StarryNight horizontal image file of our facility, as seen from the upper pad. You need to unzip this file in the folder 'Program Files/StarryNight Pro 4.5/Sky Data/Horizon Panoramas'. After you launch StarryNight, open the options panel->local view->local horizon options. In the photorealistic/earth horizons list you should now be able to select tt5c. For a more detailed description of this file, click here.

Click here for a TheSky v6 horizontal image file of our facility, as seen from the upper pad. You need to unzip this file in the folder 'My Documents/Software Bisque/TheSky6/Horizons'. After you launch TheSky, select View->Real Mode Options. Click on 'Horizon Image' and 'Advanced Options'. Do a browse and select the tt5c.horizon file. Apply and Save. For a more detailed description of this file, click here.

As you may be aware, over the past several months the Muskegon Astronomical Society has renovated the clubhouse and has made many needed improvements to the grounds. A handful of dedicated members have generously donated time, cash and materials to the Site Improvement Project, but the society is still in need of funds to help defray construction costs. To make a donation, click here.