Events
Events
Class passes now available!
Members now have access to our Astronomy Class Pass! Buy a 6-month or year-long class to gain unlimited access to our ongoing class series for the specified time period! Use the pass to attend classes in person or to receive class recordings when you can't make it to the observatory! Check out our 2026 Astronomy Class Schedule
Always wanted to visit the observatory but hadn't yet despite living in Cincinnati for a long time. It did not disappoint! Went to the spooky objects in the sky class and then got to see some through the telescope that is incredible on it's own! The building was amazing and our teacher Dr. Wes Ryle was great and very knowledgeable and passionate about the topic. - Alexander
Old Stars: The Astronomer General
Co-presenters Dr. Wes Ryle and Mandy Askins
Before he was a general, Ormsby Mitchel was the astronomer who founded the Cincinnati Observatory in 1843. This Veterans Day, trace his path from West Point to the Civil War, including the Huntsville campaign, and see how a scientist’s habits shaped a soldier’s career. Along the way, you’ll learn how the man who mapped the heavens ended up commanding troops, and what his story says about service and curiosity.
Class level: Introductory - This class is recommended for guests of any background.
Tickets:
Non-members $25/class
Members $20/class
Student (with valid ID) $10/class
Veterans or Active Military Free
Closest to the Sun: Arriving at Mercury
Mercury is the least-visited planet in the inner solar system, and a joint European-Japanese mission is about to change that. Learn why getting there is so hard, what BepiColombo hopes to find, and why the smallest planet is so strange. The mission has spent years looping through the inner solar system to slow down enough to be captured, and it’s about to split into two orbiters. The class falls just before the planned orbit insertion.
Class level: Introductory - This class is recommended for guests of any background.
Tickets:
Non-members $25/class
Members $20/class
Student (with valid ID) $10/class
Image credit: NASA
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Crash Test Asteroid
In 2022, NASA slammed a spacecraft into an asteroid on purpose as part of the DART mission. Now Europe’s Hera mission arrives to survey the damage. The impact changed the orbit of the asteroid Dimorphos by more than half an hour, and Hera will measure its size, mass, and the crater to turn a one-time test into a repeatable defense strategy. Find out what DART did, what we still don’t know, and how we might one day protect Earth.
Class level: Introductory - This class is recommended for guests of any background.
Tickets:
Non-members - $25/class
Members - $20/class
Student (with valid ID) - $10/class
Image credit: NASA
Hunting Orion
Orion is winter’s most recognizable constellation, and it’s packed with science: a stellar nursery, a famously unpredictable red supergiant, and stories from many cultures. Learn how to read the Hunter and what to point a telescope at this winter.
Class level: Introductory - This class is recommended for guests of any background. Classes will be held in Mitchel (smaller) building.
Tickets: Non-members - $25/class, Members - $20/class, Student (with valid ID) - $10/class
Last Footsteps, First Return
Apollo 17’s astronauts left the Moon in December 1972, and in April 2026 Artemis II carried a crew around it. Compare the missions, the technology, and the goals, and look at what comes next for humans on the Moon. We’ll look at what Artemis II tested, what had to change since the Apollo era, and what still has to happen before astronauts land again.
Class level: Introductory - This class is recommended for guests of any background. Classes will be held in Mitchel (smaller) building.
Tickets: Non-members - $25/class, Members - $20/class, Student (with valid ID) - $10/class
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