Visit Bandlands Observatory, Quinn, South Dakota

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Night Tours Our night programs will vary with the phase of the moon, sunset times, and sky conditions and include live-stack imaging of a deep sky object, a laser constellation tour, stargazing/moon views from our Observatory Deck through our telescopes; and/or tours of our facility as appropriate. Our telescopes: As an expert in optics fabrication, Ron taught telescope making for many years. Some of those instruments have been donated or are on loan to the Observatory, resulting in a mix of commercially made and “home brew” telescopes. As telescope-making is becoming a lost art, we are very pleased to have these instruments serving at our facility. In addition to the 26” Newtonian Reflector, our current complete lineup includes four Dobsonian reflector telescopes (one 8”, two 10”, and a 16”), an 8” Celestron NexStar Schmidt-Cassegrain, an 11” Celestron CPC1100 Schmidt-Cassegrain and a Vixen tripod-mounted astronomy binocular. A highlight in our commercial instruments is the 16” Dobsonian reflector with Goto capability and enhanced viewing with our night vision device. The 26” Newtonian reflector, the flagship of Badlands Observatory, is used primarily for imaging and will not be available for visual observing during the Night Tours. The Programs: We offer either a Dark Sky Tour or a Bright Moon Tour depending on the phase and rise time of the Moon on the night reserved. The night programs are scheduled for 2 hours and will begin at approximately between 7:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. (depending on the season) each evening, weather permitting, and if there are at least four reservations. Arrival time will be noted on the sign-up menu and on your confirmation. Reservation holders will be notified two hours in advance via text message or email if weather conditions prohibit observing. Updates will also be posted on our website. 605-381-1521 observatory@goldenwest.net

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