Reservations for the University of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Observatory’s open house will be available starting at 9 a.m. Aug. 1 for the Sept. 22 event.

This is the one time each year visitors may use the observatory’s largest telescope, the Thaw Memorial Refractor, and tour its vault of photographic plates.

The Thaw telescope’s main mission has been to study the distance of nearby stars. Designed for photographic use, its refractor has been used to capture more than 110,000 exposures on glass photographic plates. The observatory’s collection, dating back to 1914, is among the largest in the world.

In conjunction with the open house, the Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh will set up telescopes on the observatory’s front lawn.

Because the observatory is a research facility, it is open to the public only during designated tour and lecture hours.

Presentations are free, but registration is required. There is a limit of six tickets per person.

The Allegheny Observatory is located in Riverview Park, 159 Riverview Ave., Pittsburgh’s North Side,

Details: 412-321-2400 or pitt.edu

JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-853-5062 or jharrop@tribweb.com of via Twitter @Jharrop_Trib.

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