[1] The observatory presents public programs on Friday nights throughout the spring through autumn months and, weather permitting, attendees can observe celestial objects with a variety of telescopes.

[2] The 8.25 inch refractor housed in the observatory's copper dome was purchased from Warner & Swasey (with optics produced by John Brashear), and delivered to the university in 1894.

This location was soon found to have been a poor choice; nearby trees and buildings obscured the horizon, and the vibrations produced by passing streetcars disturbed observations.

[4][5] In the early 20th century a search was begun for a more suitable location to house the telescope, and a site on the Waveland Golf Course (nearly two miles west of the university campus) was chosen.

"Just inside the main entrance, the floor of the rotunda beneath the dome features a mosaic of the Solar System, with the eight planets depicted in the relative positions they had on October 1, 1921.