Mount Allison Gemini Observatory

Mount Allison Gemini Observatory (MAGO) is a dual-dome astronomical observatory housing two identical 11" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.

It is used extensively by the Physics department for hands-on astronomy classes, as well as being open to the public for special viewing nights and activities.

Some of the celestial objects viewed through our telescopes include planets and moons of our solar system, nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies.

All dates below are tentative.

Confirmations and Cancellations will be posted here the day of. Observatory nights are weather and temperature dependant.

December 5th has been cancelled.

But you can look up and see snow!

Getting here

The Observatory is located at the southwest corner of York Street and Salem Street at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada.

GPS: lat: 45.899 long: -64.375

Visiting the Observatory

Visiting with a group

Any group can consider visiting the Observatory, either in the evening or during the day. This could be to meet an astronomer, learn how telescopes work, or explore the sky.

Previous group visitors include clubs, Brownies, air cadets, and school classes.

If you are interested in bringing your group for a visit, please contact us to tell us about your group, and when you would like to visit. If your group can not make it to the Observatory, but you are interested in having an astronomer visit you, please contact us, and we will see if we can make that happen.

Contact: gemini@mta.ca or (506) 364-2530

News

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) made headlines in January and February, when it passed through the inner solar system.  This comet last passed by Earth about 50,000 years ago, and will likely not return in the future.  In this false-colour image taken on February 12 at the MtA Gemini Observatory, you can see the faint greenish glow of the tail pointing toward the top of the image, and away from the Sun.  At the same time, even over the course of the 15 minutes it took to take this image, the comet moves with respect to the more distant stars, so they show up as streaks indicating the direction of the comet's motion. 

Parking

Visitors should park in the parking lot across from the Dunn Building on Salem Street. If there is no space in this lot, there is also a dirt parking lot behind the Observatory. As well, there are paved parking lots in both directions along Salem Street.

Staying in touch

If you want to be added to our e-mail address list, so that you are informed of our upcoming events, please e-mail gemini@mta.ca and ask to be added to our contact list.