See the Stars at Racine County's Observatory

Public night open house events are held monthly from April through October and there is no charge for admission or parking.

As a non-profit organization that is volunteer run, Modine-Benstead Observatory encourages a small donation during your visit to help us defray the yearly costs of observatory maintenance and care. It does enjoy having families join us for these events, but ask that you keep young children close by (the grounds are not illuminated for better observing) and instruct them to respect the telescope equipment provided by our members.

On occasion observatory volunteers may have dozens of visitors waiting in line to observe at a particular telescope and your patience is greatly appreciated. Your many questions are expected and welcomed, since part of our club mission is to educate and inspire each of you to participate in the world of amatuer astronomy. Astronomical equipment you'll find at the RAS observatory will range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars in value.

Listening to someone describe viewing an object in our solar system though a telescope for the very first time....Priceless! The night of an open house there will be a message on the observatory answering machine if the skies are cloudy.