The aluminum-domed Crosby Observatory atop Orlando Science Center houses Florida's largest publicly accessible refractor telescope. This one-of-a-kind custom-built telescope, along with several smaller scopes, are available at selected times for solar and night sky viewing.
Peer through the powerful, 10-inch lens of the refractor telescope to view the planets, the four moons of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn and deep sky objects such as galaxies, nebulas and double stars.
All activities and events in the Crosby Observatory
are weather permitting only.
SkyWatch
June 14 – August 17, 2013
Fridays & Saturdays, 7:00 p.m.
Join our astronomers in the Crosby Observatory for a night full of wonder. Enjoy views of the celestial objects while you take in the glittering Orlando skyline. Our telescopes will expand your horizons to places like Jupiter, Mars and Venus and beyond.
Science Night Live
Seasonal Event: Please Check Events Calendar
An “adult swim” of the science variety, the event features everything great about the Science Center. Experience all four floors of exhibits, films and hands-on programming aimed specifically for grown-ups, while enjoying adult food and beverages available for purchase. Must be 21 and older.
04 November 2010
Posted in
Crosby Observatory
Before the invention of telescopes, viewing stars was a difficult task because they blurred together in a white streak formation across the sky. An ancient Greek myth states that this white streak was coined ‘Via Galactica’ or “road made of milk” and is how our galaxy came to be known as the Milky Way.
Our solar system, along with hundreds of billions of stars, clouds of dust and gases lie throughout our Milky Way Galaxy. Imagine the galaxy like a pancake being stretched, with a huge bulge forming in the center. From there, huge groups of stars and dust particles fan out from the center, generating a spiral of curving, coiled and patterned arms.
Sometimes parts of the Milky Way can be viewed with the naked eye. On very clear, dark nights it appears as a band of milky starlight stretching across the sky. So the next time you look up at the night sky, you will know that the Milky Way is so much more than a candy bar!
