Students can view 30 to 40 miles of DeKalb and Sycamore all from one place: the NIU Observatory.

The Observatory, located in Davis Hall Room 703, is open Thursdays and Fridays from 7:00 to 11 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Observatory Manager Matthew Wiesner said if it is a clear night, students can see even further than 30 to 40 miles.

“It depends on whether it is cloudy or not,” Wiesner said. “If it is clear, we can see a number of celestial objects, including Andromeda Galaxy, which is 2.5 million light years away.”

Students should expect to see stars, nebulae, clusters, galaxies, planets, as well as learning about astronomy and space on a typical visit to the observatory.

Wiesner’s personal favorite planet to find is Jupiter, which he said is visible any night this fall.

Although senior geology major Christine Knudson has never been to the observatory personally, she has had many friends who have been there.

“I heard it’s cool and definitely worth going to,” Knudson said.

Junior meteorology major Kyle Kiel enjoyed his visit to the observatory with friends.

“I’ve been there once,” Kiel said. “It was a clear night to do it. The guys who were there had a lot of information about it.”

The Observatory will host a special event called “Learn the Constellations at NIU!” from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday in La Tourette Hall Room 200.

“We will start by looking at star maps to get an idea of what is visible in the evening sky right now,” Wiesner said. “We will then go outside and learn how to find constellations and celestial objects in the sky.”

Wiesner encourages students to look out for other events the observatory will have this semester.

“We always have special events each semester in addition to our regular Thursday and Friday open hours,” Wiesner said.