The Worthy Garden Club Hopservatory opened in May of 2017 with the goal of raising scientific literacy and educating our visitors about big and unwieldy concepts like scale, size, time, distance, and speed in our solar system and beyond. We want people to be amazed and humbled by the beauty and diversity of our galactic garden as well as inspired to take care of our own planet.
The Hopservatory is a part of the WORTHY BREWING facility, though it is maintained and operated by the Worthy Garden Club. Stop by during open viewing hours or book a private tour with our resident astronomer (school programs also available).
Worthy Brewing: 495 NE Bellevue Dr, Bend, OR 97701
Have questions? Interested in volunteering? Want to book a tour? Need help with a telescope?
We're here to help! āEmail grant@worthygardenclub.com
HOPSERVATORY
we may cancel viewings due to cloudy weather. BEFORE CALLing or Emailing TO ASK...
To interpret, find the row labeled "cloud cover." Darker blue = clear skies. White/gray blocks = cloudy.
-OPEN-
WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY
8-9 PM
FRIDAY, SATURDAY
8-10 PM
We are open on a first-come, first-serve basis. No reservation is required. Due to limited capacity inside the dome, we are currently allowing groups of 10 or fewer at a time. You may have to wait in a short line before entering.
Open house viewing includes a peek through our 16-inch research-grade telescope. You’ll have the opportunity to gaze upon galaxies, planets, star clusters, nebulae, and of course, the Moon, guided by our resident astronomer Grant.ā The Hopservatory is great for kids and adults alike – everyone is awed by the stars!
Follow our INSTAGRAM, or shoot us a message to keep up to date on local solar viewing events and viewings.
ā
H-alpha solar telescopes work by allowing hydrogen-alpha light to pass through while rejecting all other wavelengths. This filtering effect allows you to see only glowing hydrogen gas and gives you the contrast to see the Sun for what it really is: a dynamic, seething, and occasionally violent place where immense amounts of energy and hot gas are flung into space.
ā
Our mobile Hydrogen Alpha telescope has protective filters to keep us safe as we view features such as sunspots, solar flares, prominences, and filaments.
ā
Want a more intimate experience
with the sky? Book a private tour for your friends, family, school group, or business associates! Private tours allow you to experience a one-on-one program with our telescope and knowledgeable astronomy docent.
To accommodate our busy public programs, private tours are limited to select Tuesday & Sunday nights in the spring and summer. Programs fees starting at $300/hour minimum for groups up to 20 people, $50 extra/hour, per additional 10 people.ā
Full coverage scholarships are available for school groups!
ā
āFor more information or to schedule your private tour, contact
What's Up: October 2022 Skywatching Tips from NASA
Interested in Dark Skies? Check out this Dark Skies Toolkit put together by Travel Oregon. Our own Worthy Hopservatory is one of the noteworthy (pun intended) places to visit!
THE
TRANSPORTER ROOM
Your journey to the great beyond begins here. Sitting at the base of the Hopservatory, the transporter room is decorated with beautiful mosaic tiling depicting the wonders of our universe: speeding comets, space ships, and planets. The center mosaic column (which supports the telescope two stories above) portrays the beauty of our planet as seen through the eyes of interstellar travelers. Marbleized Venetian plaster walls replicate a slice of Earth as it rises from the core up through the terrestrial strata towards the stars and beyond, inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
But what's it all about? The cosmos contain awe-inspiring phenomena, but we want visitors to look out into that vast space and see just how cold, distant, and inhospitable it all is compared to our own planet. We want you to leave with the impression that our universe is beautiful, but our home planet is irreplaceable.
