UofU Willard Eccles Astronomy Observatory

09/04/2026

Star Party
Friday, September 11, 2026
Sunset - 11:00pm
South Marina Campground

Join park rangers and the U of U Willard Eccles Astronomy Observatory for an evening of star gazing. Telescopes will be provided or you can bring your own.
Dress for the weather and bring insect repellent.

Event is free with paid park admission or Utah State Parks Annual Pass

08/29/2026

Highlights from the Lunar Eclipse! We got the start and end of the eclipse, unfortunately with the middle being clouded out with occasional rain. Thank you to all of those who showed up!

08/28/2026

And we're live:

We are attempting a live stream of the August 27 lunar eclipse from...

08/28/2026

We have all of our telescopes set up. Doors open at 8:15. Right now we have patchy skies and very windy conditions

08/27/2026

PLEASE WATCH THIS BEFORE VISITING: Here is how to get to our observatory!

We recommend people park at Lot 2, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
https://maps.app.goo.gl/GiLyEBjVm1DJaM7R6

08/27/2026

Our new look and our planned star parties for September!

08/26/2026

Here is the current Eclipse schedule for tomorrow night's star party:

Doors will open at 8:15 pm, and we'll wait to see the moon rise shortly after that. The eclipse will reach its maximum extent at around 10:13 pm.

Weather doesn't look great at the moment. It will be good enough to attempt observations, but we will shut down telescopes if we see incoming precipitation, which there is a small chance of at the moment. We'll have to see how it evolves through the night.

Graphics: spaceweather.com / NOAA

08/25/2026

We can confirm now that here's our planned schedule for Thursday night!

08/25/2026

We are often asked how we store the telescopes when we're not doing observations. Well here ya go! We have these high quality covers that provide protection to every weather event that can happen!

08/25/2026

When you were planning to do solar observations but weather says otherwise