View the Observatory's Current Open/Closed Status 

Summer Hours begin in the month of May.
The Community Observatory hours of operation will be 8:30pm - 10:30pm

Upcoming Events!

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy

You Are Invited!

The Community Observatory will be holding a special program each month that will highlight a particular area of Astronomy.   Our special programs will be extended public programs on one Saturday evening each month and will have a theme associated with them.  The program will run from 6pm till 10pm. 

The cosmos is closer in the foothills!

 The Cameron Park Rotary Community Observatory is your window to the night sky!  See the stars through the 14-inch reflecting telescopes on a clear dark night.  Follow planets or the moon as they travel across the sky. Bring the whole family for an unforgettable experience in the foothills of El Dorado County.

The observatory was conceived by the Rotary Club of Cameron Park as a community service project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Rotary International.   The Rotary Club members raised all of the funds and donated time and materials to build the observatory on land owned by the El Dorado County Office of Education adjacent to the El Dorado Center of Folsom Lake College.  Once the observatory was completed, the Rotary Club donated the observatory to the community and it is jointly administered by the Rotary Club, the El Dorado Center of Folsom Lake College and the El Dorado County Office of Education.

The observatory is open free of charge to the general public on most Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Click here for next weekend’s public viewing hours.

Announcement:

Cindy Terpe has been awarded the Top Student Asteroid Discoverer for 2008-2009 by the Killer Asteroid Project Astronomical Research Institute and NASA's Near Earth Object Observations Program.  Congratulations Cindy!!  (read more from Mt. Democrat, dated June 22, 2009)