With only 10 tickets available, this exclusive 2-hour experience illuminates the inner-workings of Yerkes after dark. During the tour, our Telescope Team will take you on a journey through the night sky with our historic 24″ reflecting telescope if skies are clear. Please note: this experience does not include use of the Great Refractor telescope.

If there are no dates available when you attempt to purchase tickets, this is because all of our dates are sold out. If you are interested in being notified when our next round of tickets becomes available, sign up for notifications here.

We cannot guarantee clear skies on the night you schedule, but in the event that the weather does not permit observing with our telescopes (or if there are technical issues with the equipment), we guarantee a special, exclusive experience where you will explore the night sky from a historical perspective. In these instances, we delve into the observatory’s secret vaults with 180,000+ glass pictures of space, explore the evolution of astrophotography through over a century of equipment, and visit darkrooms in our subterranean chambers. Regardless of atmospheric conditions, this is a two-hour immersion inside the observatory that changed the way we see the Universe.

Because of the historic construction of the building and domes, there are several flights of stairs (standard, steep, and tight spirals) that will be climbed and descended during both the clear and cloudy night programs. This experience is not wheelchair accessible.

Important Info: After you purchase a ticket, please review your confirmation email for more important information about the tour. The info will be below your tickets in the email. Admission tickets cannot be transferred, refunded or exchanged. All sales are final.

Get tickets here