Observatory Status
Collins Observatory will be closed this evening, Monday, October 13, 2025, due to today's Nor'easter, and the Indigenous Peoples' (Columbus Day) Holiday. We will reopen next Monday, October 20, 2025, weather permitting. Please note: The observatory will be closed on Monday, October 27, 2025, due to the extensive Halloween celebrations taking place in Salem that week. We will reopen again on Monday, November 3, 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) rises before dark this week, and should be visible when it gets dark.
- Uranus (in Taurus) rises before 08:00 PM now. It should clear the murk and be viewable before 09:00 PM.
- Neptune (between Cetus and Pisces) rises with Saturn before dark this week, and should be visible when it gets dark.
- Minor planet Ceres (formerly known as an asteroid)(in Cetus), rises before 07:00 PM now, and may be visible through a telescope, or binoculars, around 08:00 PM.
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.