What a public night looks like
A physics faculty member or student aide runs the telescope and talks through whatever is actually visible that night — Saturn's rings some months, a star cluster in others — rather than a fixed script, since Wesconsin cloud cover means the plan changes week to week.
Beyond public nights
The observatory also supports the Introductory Astronomy lab sections and a handful of independent research projects each year, mostly variable-star photometry within reach of a 14-inch mirror.
In and around Porter Falls
Research at Porter is applied and partner-driven: a Valley Health quality project, a DNR study on the Porter River, a manufacturing-process fix for a county employer. The Office of Research & Sponsored Programs handles the review and paperwork so the work can start on time.
The practical details
Telescope: 14-inch Ritchey–Chrétien reflector. Public nights: Fridays, weather permitting, September–May. Cost: Free, no reservation needed. Anything time-sensitive — an accommodation, a booking, a deadline — is worth confirming directly before you rely on it, because the specifics here can change from term to term.
If you have a question
The office behind this is Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (Millwright Hall, Room 340). Call (715) 555–0230 or email research@uwporterfalls.edu during the fall and spring terms, or sign in to MyPorter to send a message or book a time. If it turns out another office owns the question, they will route it rather than send you back to the start.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.