The MacAdam Student Observatory is a University of Kentucky building located on top of parking garage structure #2 that is used by faculty and students for research and learning.

Except when the observatory is open to the public, the parking gates in parking structure #2 are generally down and is patrolled by officers. Here is a map to nearby alternative parking.

Our street address is 301 Hilltop Ave., Lexington, KY 40506.

Timothy Knauer, Director

MacAdam Student Observatory
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Email: TimKnauer@uky.edu
Phone (Observatory): (859) 257-5330
Phone (Office): (859) 257-7147

Visit our official Facebook page.

News & Updates

Kentucky Sky Talk Speaker: Kyle McCarthy

Title: The Secret Lives of Stars: Stellar Daycare

13-June-2013  8:00PM, Chemistry-Physics Building Room 155

• Flyer: May SkyTalk Flyer.pdf
• May All-Sky Chart.pdf

• Flyer: June SkyTalk Flyer.pdf
• June All-Sky Chart.pdf
  • (PDF maps on this page were created using Guide 9)

The June, July, and August SkyTalks will be devoted to a three-part series called The Secret Lives of Stars. The dates, titles, and speakers are below.

The MacAdam Student Observatory staff are pleased to welcome the public to our facility. We present a program of public outreach on every second Thursday of the month.  A 40-minute presentation on astronomy will be held  in  the Chemistry-Physics Building, before moving across the street to the observatory, weather permitting. Note that the temperature at the telescope is the same as it is outside. The Observatory is located on Parking Structure #2 on the University of Kentucky campus on this map.)

Parking Note: Guests for the monthly SkyTalk that bring vehicles should plan on leaving them in Parking Structure #2, next to the observatory. Visitors that park elsewhere are subject to citation.

To AST191 and 192 Students:

The observatory is now closed to students for the Spring 2013 semester.

The May Sky

For Your Eyes Only

The familiar Big Dipper asterism is practically overhead after dusk in May. The Dipper though is only a part of the constellation Ursa Major, the great bear. It’s interesting to note that more than one culture, with no apparent means of contact between them, have seen a bear when looking up at these stars. 

For Your Binoculars

In the northern hemisphere at the mid-latitudes, spring is the one time of the year that you can go out after dusk in the evening, look up from a dark site, and not see the Milky Way. The Milky Way galaxy is shaped somewhat like two fried eggs, back-to-back, in which we are embedded about 2/3rds of the way out from the center of the yolk. Looking up at this time of the year gives us the best views of objects that are not part of our galaxy, i.e. other galaxies. The brightest of them can be seen in large binoculars or a small telescope.

The Bluegrass Amateur Astronomy Club will hold public stargazing programs at at Raven Run Nature Sanctuary once a month during March-November in 2013. The next programs, weather permitting, are Saturday May 11th, and Saturday June 8th, after sunset.

The June, July, and August SkyTalks will be devoted to a three-part series called The Secret Lives of Stars.