After twenty years of saying "Hey, Wife, we need to do to the George Observatory and stargaze with…read morethe kids" we finally bought tickets about a month or so ago for last nights, 07June2025, experience. Thinking that we would have a hard time finding the Observatory, we left home earlier than we thought we should to be there for our 10pm seating. We were sooooo wrong about that. Not only was it easy to get there from The Woodlands, we got there early enough to be placed on the 9pm viewings wait list. Luckily enough, we did NOT make that list. Instead, we were able to take a long look at the displays in the waiting area as well as relax (thank goodness for Deep Woods Off) on one of the benches and count the firefly lights in the trees as well as just look at the sky with the MarkI eyeball for a taste of the infinite. The skeeters were ignoring the Deep Woods Off, so we moseyed into the atrium and visited with our fellow stargazers while the 10pm hour approached. The theater was cool and dim with a rerunning video on solar/universe sights displaying on the wall, making for a nice waiting area. At 10pm, our host began our stargazing experience. Since my Wife has issues with stairs (old injury and plain old time) we took the ramp to the pavilion that accesses the telescope entrances. That slope os gentle and meandered around the back of the Observatory under a massive oak tree and made for a nice stroll for us arm in arm. There were at least five additional mobile telescopes on the deck ranging from 4" to 16" in size. The images attached are from the 4" to give a reference of the quality scopes used. The instruments in the two smaller cupolas were 16" and 18" respectively with the 36" main dominating the deck of the pavilion. We were able to use the eyepieces on the 16 and 36 to directly view stellar formations well outside our solar system. The 18 was having issues, so it was not used last night. Staff and Volunteers were outstanding and let everyone take a peek in the eyepiece as long as they desired on each scope, even the 36 incher. Many of them were not astronomers but had a passion for stargazing as well as producing a cornucopia of knowledge for us to ingest about the equipment and the viewed object. Personally, I prefer planetary viewing, but the stellar items were a sight to behold. My Wife wants to go back in winter, during a New Moon to get a better view of the Milky Way and the Winter Sky series of constellations and I heartily agree with her. We will be back in Nov or Dec. The cost of tickets is reasonable and go to the upkeep of the Observatory, but access to Brazos Bend State Park is NOT included in the ticket fee. A per person fee will be assessed at the entrance by Park personnel. There is usually a few weeks of sold out sessions, so plan well ahead and get those slots early. Hope for clear skies and slather yourself with bug spray. Ciao, Darrell

Nice people, great classes. The observatory was awesome! The classes are about astronomy, come to…read morethis place if your kids like astronomy (space science/ outer space). Learning how to work in Mission Control and Space Ship. Astronomy classes as well. Mini Exhibits. Very great place! RECOMMEND FOR FUTURE STEM PROGRAMS, FEILD TRIPS, AND MORE!