CONCORD — With the flick of a switch, the 58-inch plasma screen will come alive today, featuring images from the new observatory telescope at the grand opening of the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center’s new observatory dome.

The dome houses two telescopes for viewing day and nighttime skies. The primary telescope, a Celestron 14-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain, uses a Celestron PRO mount, computerized for tracking planets, nebulae, galaxies and other nighttime objects.

The second telescope is a 100 millimeter Lunt, designed especially for solar viewing of sunspots and other activity. Either telescope can be hooked up to the plasma screen, located by the observatory’s entrance, making images from the telescopes accessible to all.

“The observatory has been a long awaited addition to the Discovery Center,” said educator Tiffany Nardino.

“We are really excited to make this wonderful tool available to the public, as it can only enhance the visitor’s experience to the Discovery Center.”
Through these telescopes, the observatory wants to teach about the fundamentals of astronomy, orbital mechanics, stellar and planetary formation and other concepts, offering visitors the opportunity to see first hand real objects of the day and night skies.

The opening celebration will kick off at noon with cake and tours of the new observatory. At 12:15 p.m., there will be a special presentation of the Discovery Center’s newest planetarium show, “Two Small Pieces of Glass,” taking visitors centuries into the past to explore how a simple adjustment to a child’s spyglass launched our eyes deeper into the beauty and wonder of space.

At 7 p.m., the Super Stellar Friday program will feature “Jupiter and Its Moons.” Visitors will enjoy planetarium show “Tonight’s Sky” and learn about Jupiter, with a live look via the new observatory telescopes.

Admission is $9 for adults, $6 for children (ages 3 to 12), $8 for student and seniors, free for members. If general admission is purchased before 5 p.m., ticket for Super Stellar Friday program is $3.