Collins Observatory will be closed this evening, Monday, November 3, 2025, due to cloudy skies and possible rain this evening. We will reopen again on Monday, November 10, 2025, weather permitting.

Note: Collins Observatory will be open to all SSU students, faculty, and staff, and non SSU individuals.

Please check back on this site for any other changes, or updates about openings in the future.

Collins Observatory is normally open on CLEAR, or MOSTLY CLEAR Mondays from 7-10 PM, or later depending upon the time of sunset. We’re open during the school year from September to May, and are closed on school holidays, when the school is on vacation, mandated closings, and during the summer. It is also available for special group visits during the year when feasible.

The observatory houses a Meade 12-inch LX-200 ACF telescope, which does fairly well in the light polluted skies over Salem.

Please call the observatory at 978-542-6452, if you’re coming from a distance, as the weather is a bit unstable this close to the ocean.

Notes:

What’s up tonight?

Saturn (between Cetus and Pisces) is visible when we open.
Uranus (in Taurus) is now viewable when we open.
Neptune (between Cetus and Pisces) rises with Saturn, and should be visible with a telescope or binoculars when we open.
Minor planet Ceres (in Cetus) is up when we open, and may be visible through a telescope, or binoculars at that time.
Jupiter (in Gemini) rises a little before 08:15 PM this week. It should clear the murk for observing around 09:45 PM.
M42 (the Orion Nebula) in Orion will rise just before 08:00 PM this, and should be viewable before 09:15 PM.
The almost full waxing gibbous Moon will be visible in Pisces tonight, and will make observing most of the other objects more difficult.
Of course, all of the above will only be visible if the clouds cooperate.

Visit us: Map

Located on Rt. 114, ( Lafayette St. ) in Salem, MA.

Parking is in flux – we suggest you attempt to use the new parking garage in the lower student parking lot, or the street, which is RT. 114, in front of Meier Hall. Meier Hall is the second building from the faculty parking area “A”, and next to the school theater. Enter through the front door on RT. 114. Go down the hall to the back of the building and take a left. There is an elevator about thirty feet down from there on your right. Go on the elevator and press floor “P” (sixth floor). Turn right upon leaving the elevator. Turn left after the double hall doors and go out the glass doors to the roof. Take the stairs on the left to the observatory.

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