Visiting the Observatory
Observing will begin shortly after sunset at the announced time and continue for approximately 60 – 90 minutes. Special arrangements for groups larger than about eight people may be made by sending an email to tco@uncg.edu. At a typical public observing session, we will look at the following objects through the 32-inch telescope: star clusters, nebulae, galaxies, double stars, planets and the moon (if available).
On most nights a decision will be made as to cloud conditions, sky suitability, and road conditions at about 5:30 or 6:30 pm. To determine whether the observatory will be open please check our webpage “Is My TCO Public Night Cancelled” on the day for which you have tickets.
More questions about Public Nights at the Three College Observatory? Read our Public Nights FAQs.
Public Nights at the TCO are operated as a public service. UNCG faculty volunteer their time to run the public nights, take reservation requests, answer questions, and operate the telescope.
Join the Waiting List by filling out the embedded form.
Location
5106 Thompson Mill Road, Graham — most internet map services (like Google Maps) will get you to the observatory very efficiently.
The Three College Observatory is located in central North Carolina approximately eight miles south of Burlington. On a straight line between Greensboro and Chapel Hill the observatory is at about the midpoint. The observatory may be reached from Greensboro in approximately 45 minutes after a drive of some 33 miles.
The building is situated in the Cane Creek Mountains of Alamance County, although some would say that these are mountains only in the loosest sense of the word. The site was selected because of its proximity to the Greensboro metropolitan area as well as the reasonably-dark skies to the south of the observatory. Settlement in the immediate area of the observatory is mostly of a rural nature, and the site is heavily wooded. Growth along the I 85 corridor 8 miles north poses growing problems with light pollution, but is presently mostly an annoyance. As a dark sky site this location poses an excellent compromise between the need to be close to urban centers and the desire for very dark skies.
The observatory is situated on a 60-acre tract of landed owned by The University of North Carolina system, and formerly used by a microwave relay tower for NC Public Television. The site is 183 meters above sea level, and approximately 200 ft above the nearby terrain. Observatory coordinates (as determined by the USGS) are:
longitude 79 24.4 west
latitude 35 56.7 north
