{"id":24114,"date":"2021-04-21T03:26:24","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T10:26:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoenixvalleyreview.com\/?p=24114"},"modified":"2021-05-02T08:45:28","modified_gmt":"2021-05-02T15:45:28","slug":"visit-gilbert-rotary-centennial-observatory-and-look-at-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoenixvalleyreview.com\/visit-gilbert-rotary-centennial-observatory-and-look-at-the-stars\/","title":{"rendered":"Visit Gilbert Rotary Centennial Observatory and look at the stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you love learning about the space (or just learning in general) you have to visit this amazing Observatory<\/a><\/strong>. Choose an evening when the sky is clear and come to the Observatory to look at the stars.<\/p>\n

On October 21st, 2006<\/strong>, the Observatory was officially opened. The whole project was led by Win Pendleton<\/strong>, a retired astronomy educator and member of both the Gilbert Rotary Club<\/strong> and the East Valley Astronomy Club<\/strong>. Since the year 2005 marked the 100th anniversary of Rotary International, the local club adopted the idea of creating a public observatory as its centennial project.<\/p>\n

The facility was built through private donations and gifted to the Town of Gilbert, and all the staff working at the Observatory are volunteers who have a passion for astronomy and space science.<\/p>\n

Since the opening night in 2006, over 90,000 visitors have put their eyeball to our telescope’s lens (the Observatory houses a 16\u201d Meade LX200R telescope<\/strong> and 60mm Lunt solar telescope<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

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Telescope in the Observatory<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Currently, the Observatory is closed for Friday and Saturday viewing<\/strong>. Reservations are available for private groups (6 or less) for Sunday through Thursday evening. CDC protocols will be observed.<\/strong>
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\nUsually, the second Friday of each month there is an astronomy related talk in addition to telescope viewing hours.<\/strong> These Sky Watch programs take place at 7:30pm in the adjoining public library, and are a joint presentation of the Gilbert Riparian Institute and the East Valley Astronomy Club. The lectures are free for members of the Riparian Institute, and for the general public a donation of $5 is requested and appreciated (but not required). These events are cancelled until further notice, so please check the website<\/a> regularly to find out when the events will be happening again.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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