Appropriate for: All Ages

The Kalamazoo Valley Museum will participate in Statewide Astronomy Night (SWAN) on April 17 from 5-8:30 pm. Visitors will have the opportunity to take in a number of Astronomy-related activities, planetarium shows, and topics that are suitable for any age. Among the events planned are two featured talks; “Take Your Family Stargazing” with KVM’s retired planetarium coordinator, Eric Schreur and Photographing the Milky Way: Giant Panorama’s and Time Lapse Photography with Dr. Axel Mellinger of Central Michigan University. Events are free of charge.

Learn more about Looking into the Sky with New Eyes at Kalamazoo Valley Museum

Appropriate for: All Ages

Located inside the beautiful trails of Leila Arboretum, Kingman Museum is a hidden treasure in Southwest Michigan, housing an extensive natural history collection, three floors of exhibits, and Digistar Planetarium. Join us again this year for Statewide Astronomy Night as we visualize the invisible! We will offer engaging, hands-on Earth and space experiences with connections to science, technology, and society, including planetarium shows, telescope demonstrations, and themed refreshments.

Learn more about Statewide Astronomy Night at Kingman Museum

Appropriate for: All Ages

Join us for a night of astronomy at Henry Ford College, where we'll have four programs: - Discover the night sky in a planetarium show. We'll explore the stars and constellations of spring. - Learn to take images of the night sky with equipment you might already have. We'll learn how to use your camera to take wide-field images of the night sky; how to take longer exposures to reveal more detail; how to get easy images of the moon; and how to get images of planets. - Advanced astrophotography: How do they do that? Learn how long exposure astrophotography images are captured and processed to reveal stunning images of deep-sky objects. - View the night sky through telescopes on the Science Building's Outdoor Observation Deck. This activity is weather-dependent.

Learn more about Astrophotography for Beginners and Advanced at Henry Ford College

Appropriate for: All Ages

See the world premier of the new show, Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discovery. It takes many people with diverse backgrounds, talents, and skills to run a world-class observatory. Meet a few of these people as they share the wonder of the sky—and the excitement of discovery. Explore the world-class observatories nestled in the Andes Mountains and learn why Chile, with its beautiful mountain ranges and clear, cloudless skies create an ideal environment for studying the cosmos. Continue your learning! Participate in live conversations with observatory staff, explore exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, educational activities, and ongoing science experiments all at bigastronomy.org Meet the team that made the show!

Learn more about Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discovery at Abrams Planetarium

Appropriate for: All Ages

Our shared Michigan night sky is a vast gallery of breathtaking wonders. Throughout history, people of the world have used the night sky as an important resource for farming, culture, navigation, and discovery. Join us at Hurst Planetarium for an adventure through fantastic views and see how mind-blowing discoveries are connected with what you can see with your own eyes. There will be 30 minute shows at 7, 8, and 9 pm, followed by telescope observing, weather permitting.

Learn more about Ella Sharp Museum's Hurst Planetarium: Our Shared Night Sky

Appropriate for: All Ages

The event will begin with activities and displays in the Saginaw Bay Visitor Center at 7pm, hosted by the Park, Delta College Planetarium, and local astronomy clubs. A free auditorium talk about stargazing begins at 8pm, demonstrating the tips and tricks for observing, how telescopes work, and reading star charts. Observing under the real sky (weather permitting) begins at 9pm on the State Park grounds.

Learn more about Statewide Astronomy Night at Bay City State Park

Appropriate for: All Ages

Explore the Universe by observing through several telescopes (weather permitting) outside and upstairs in our dome with our 16-inch reflecting telescopes. We will also host activities indoors, rain or shine, that will allow people to explore what astronomers already know and what they want to know about the Universe!

Learn more about Statewide Astronomy Night at the MSU Observatory

Appropriate for: All Ages

Visitors will enjoy tours of the facility, hands-on activities including making planispheres, solar system necklaces, and more, as well as telescope demonstrations. The Veen Observatory houses three large telescopes and also offers portable telescopes on the grounds for the visitors to use.

Learn more about Statewide Astronomy Night at Veen Observatory