Laws Observatory

Laws Observatory Laws Observatory has been showing the sky to MU students and faculty, and the general public, for more than 100 years.

Closed from 3rd week in December till first week in February unless otherwise specified. We are open to the public Wednesday evenings from 8:00 to 10:00 pm, if the WEATHER PERMITS. We can't open if it's cloudy/snowy/rainy/too hot in the dome. We will post notifications here on the weather.

06/04/2026
06/04/2026

Have you spotted near yet? These planets – the 2 brightest in our sky – are getting closer. They'll be reaching a beautifully close on June 8 and 9. As these worlds edge closer in your sky between now and then, it's the perfect opportunity to feel your place in our 3-dimensional solar system. Read more:
https://earthsky.org/tonight/venus-jupiter-conjunction-june-2026-charts-how-to-see/

📸 EarthSky.org

Even though we had some flight issues, things went well with Starship says Flight Director Barkley.
05/22/2026

Even though we had some flight issues, things went well with Starship says Flight Director Barkley.

05/20/2026

Sorry to all for the short notice, but due to the cloud situation and more rolling up from the south we will be closed tonight. We'll give it another shot next Wednesday.

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The weather gave us a great send off for the 2025-2026 Academic Year at Laws. We had beautiful clear skies, light winds...
05/14/2026

The weather gave us a great send off for the 2025-2026 Academic Year at Laws. We had beautiful clear skies, light winds and perfect May temperatures. Randy Durk was in the dome with the big scope and grad student Tom Sun (left) had a Celestron-8 out on the roof. Tom is headed to Cal Tech next Fall -- Congratulations!!

Coming up June 9th. Venus and Jupiter side by side, with Mercury low on the horizon...behind that dang tree! I'm going t...
05/08/2026

Coming up June 9th. Venus and Jupiter side by side, with Mercury low on the horizon...behind that dang tree! I'm going to call Stellarium software and say...cut that tree down!

We're open and busy!
05/07/2026

We're open and busy!

Looks like we will have clear skies tonight and we’re opening from 8-10PM!
05/06/2026

Looks like we will have clear skies tonight and we’re opening from 8-10PM!

Address

Physics Building, South College Avenue
Columbia, MO
65211

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