The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory celebrated its sixth anniversary on March 25, 2018, since adding the PlaneWave Instruments CDK 700 telescope. The observatory has opened learning opportunities for locals to discover the universe in a way they could not with the naked eye.

The observatory offers day tours that walk the public through the different tools available to explore the skies. These could be followed by the Observatory Public Exploration Nights (O.P.E.N). These stargazing nights offer exclusive looks at celestial objects, star clusters, and planets with the help of Observatory Docents, who set up telescopes across the deck aimed at a variety of objects for the audience.

Within the OPEN event, the crowd is first led into the side of the facility where the CDK 700 telescope sits, staring at planets such as Uranus.

Observatory Coordinator Annie Poy said they needed to find a way to “bring the public in,” the educational tools did just that, with a couple hundred visitors showing up to enjoy all they had to offer. The crowd worked their way back down to the deck, where multiple docents were available for questions. Day tours are also free for the public. They are often led by Poy, who gives an insight into the facility from the deck, telescopes, and various monitors showing solar eclipse and moon footage.

For those who cannot attend the event, the Library also offers free rental Orion Star Blast telescopes to Library Members for a week. All you need to do is become a member and request one of the thirty telescopes in their collection.