UNT Rafes Urban Astronomy Center

UNT Rafes Urban Astronomy Center Changing the world one Star Party at a time! Public Star Parties are held every 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, weather permitting. STAR PARTIES!

Be sure to check back here for party updates as well as our other lively posts! Come join us at the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center on the first and third Saturday of every month for our Star Party. At Star Parties, you can learn about the night sky from our knowledgeable staff and students and enjoy an opportunity to see objects in space through our telescopes! WHAT'S INCLUDED?
- Sky Tonight Tour -

Constellation stories, navigating the night sky, and star-hopping
- Dobsonian Telescope Operation - instruction on how to use the telescopes and find celestial objects
- Domed Telescope Observation - You will be given access to our 6" and 8" refractors.
- Open-Roof Telescope Observation: You will be given access to our open-roof telescope buildings which contain C14 and C8 telescopes outfitted with state of the art astrophotography and positioning equipment. IMPORTANT: Make sure to check here or on the Star Party page of our website for the weather call at 2pm the day of the event. We will cancel star parties due to clouds in the forecast in addition to other unforeseen circumstances. Ticket sales are currently cash only and can only be purchased at the event.

05/16/2026

Join us for a night under the stars! 🌌

Come out to the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center and enjoy breathtaking views of the night sky through our telescopes. Learn from our knowledgeable staff and volunteers about the celestial wonders above! Objects of interest for the Star Party: Jupiter, Venus (sets at 10:54pm), Ring Nebula, Irus Nebula, & Whirlpool Galaxy.

Location:
Rafes Urban Astronomy Center
2350 Tom Cole Rd, Ponder, TX 76259

Tickets: $6 per person (available online only)
Purchase tickets here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/27808

Want to learn more about our Star Parties? Visit:
https://astronomy.unt.edu/ruac_observatory/star-parties.html

Tonight's Star Party is unfortunately cancelled due to weather. We will be back at the RUAC for our next Public Star Par...
05/09/2026

Tonight's Star Party is unfortunately cancelled due to weather. We will be back at the RUAC for our next Public Star Party May 16th!

We have a special Star Party this Saturday!!! Join us with the UNT Society of Physics Students for a night under the sta...
05/06/2026

We have a special Star Party this Saturday!!! Join us with the UNT Society of Physics Students for a night under the stars.

Proceeds go directly to UNT Society of Physics Students. Because of this, this Star Party will be **Cash Only**!
We will resume our normal cashless Public Star Parties at our regularly scheduled May 16th event.

Objects of interest for the Star Party: Jupiter, Venus (sets at 10:40pm), Beehive Cluster, Whirlpool Galaxy

Location:
Rafes Urban Astronomy Center
2350 Tom Cole Rd, Ponder, TX 76259
Tickets: $6 per person (cash only for this specific star party!)

Want to learn more about our Star Parties? Visit:
https://astronomy.unt.edu/ruac_observatory/star-parties.html

05/02/2026

Join us for a night under the stars! 🌌

Come out to the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center and enjoy breathtaking views of the night sky through our telescopes. Learn from our knowledgeable staff and volunteers about the celestial wonders above!

Objects of interest for the Star Party: Jupiter, Venus, Sirus, Capella, Betelgeuse, & Procyon

Location:
Rafes Urban Astronomy Center
2350 Tom Cole Rd, Ponder, TX 76259

Tickets: $6 per person (available online only)
Purchase tickets here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/27808

Want to learn more about our Star Parties? Visit:
https://astronomy.unt.edu/ruac_observatory/star-parties.html

Congrats to our undergraduates who presented their Senior Thesis Capstone yesterday, Blake Rice and Cassian Grantham! Al...
04/30/2026

Congrats to our undergraduates who presented their Senior Thesis Capstone yesterday, Blake Rice and Cassian Grantham! Also a huge thank you and congratulations to our TA, Leigh Parrott, who won the Department of Physics Outstanding Lab TA!!!✨🎉

Join us for a night under the stars! 🌌 Come out to the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center and enjoy breathtaking views of the ...
04/18/2026

Join us for a night under the stars! 🌌

Come out to the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center and enjoy breathtaking views of the night sky through our telescopes. Learn from our knowledgeable staff and volunteers about the celestial wonders above!

Location:
Rafes Urban Astronomy Center
2350 Tom Cole Rd, Ponder, TX 76259

Tickets: $6 per person (available online only)
Purchase tickets here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/27808

Want to learn more about our Star Parties? Visit:
https://astronomy.unt.edu/ruac_observatory/star-parties.html

04/18/2026

Update for the April 18th Public Star Party!

Be sure to check back by 4pm for more news on today's event. 🔭

04/15/2026

Join us for a night under the stars! 🌌

Come out to the Rafes Urban Astronomy Center and enjoy breathtaking views of the night sky through our telescopes. Learn from our knowledgeable staff and volunteers about the celestial wonders above!

Objects of interest for the Star Party: Jupiter, Orion Nebula, Whirlpool Galaxy, Pleiades

Location:
Rafes Urban Astronomy Center
2350 Tom Cole Rd, Ponder, TX 76259

Tickets: $6 per person (available online only)
Purchase tickets here: https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/27808

Final weather call will be posted around 2 PM on the day of the event.

Want to learn more about our Star Parties? Visit:
https://astronomy.unt.edu/ruac_observatory/star-parties.html

Our April 4th Star Party has been cancelled, but no worries! Our next scheduled Star Party is set to take place on April...
04/04/2026

Our April 4th Star Party has been cancelled, but no worries! Our next scheduled Star Party is set to take place on April 11th from 9:00pm-12:00am.✨

Here is some more information how to view both the Geminid Meteor Shower, and 3I/Atlas! The Geminids are reaching its pe...
12/14/2025

Here is some more information how to view both the Geminid Meteor Shower, and 3I/Atlas!

The Geminids are reaching its peak tonight and tomorrow night, and (in clear conditions) should be quite a show!

3I/Atlas will be here for this month, and early next month. But you'll need to be up late at night/early in the morning with a telescope to get a glimpse of it.

12/14/2025

We're sad that the clouds have cancelled the last Star Party of the year. However, we are bringing the party to social media! Enjoy the video we put together for the event, giving more information about 3I/Atlas and trivia about comets!

All rights for "What We Know About Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS" and "Interstellar Visitor is Fastest Comet Ever Recorded" belong to NASA, and can be found here: https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/resources/resource-packages/asteroid-and-comet-resources/

Send a message to learn more

Address

Ponder, TX

Telephone

+19403698213

Website

https://astronomy.unt.edu/sky-theater/index.html

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