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5 Observatories & Planetariums in New Mexico That You Shouldn't Miss
With its rich cultural heritage from Native American and Spanish settlers, New Mexico has been both a Spanish colony and a Mexican colony, and still retains a strong individual identity within the United States. The landscape is breathtaking, the food incredible, and there is a thriving cultural scene, all of which makes New Mexico, and Santa Fe in particular, a great place all year long.
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1. NRAO Very Large Array
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 23 reviews
Reviewed By CMPTexas - Tucson, United States
After visiting Trinity Site nearby, we heard or read that the VLA would be having an “Open House” on the same Saturday. So, we took advantage and drove the 44 miles from Socorro after lunch. Normally, you can tour the grounds and Visitors Center on your own. But, this Open House meant Guest Speakers and guided tours. The guides are professionals who work or have worked there, and the insight they provided was spectacular! They give the history of the telescope, how it schedules the scientific work to be done, the telescope mechanical and electrical components and how they operate, how they produce images with radio waves picked up by the telescope, and so much more. They take you into the very areas where all this work is being performed; the computers and the correlator, the interferometer, just to name a few. They explain how they manage to move the 250 ton telescopes from one position to another. Quite interesting, really! So glad we attended the Open House. I would highly recommend that if you’re at Trinity Site on the 1st Saturdays of April or October, make plans to come here to the VLA and take the tour and hear the guest speakers. You won’t be disappointed.
2. Roswell Museum & Art Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 330 reviews
Founded in 1937, the Roswell Museum and Art Center is home to an extensive collection of southwestern art, the equipment and workshop of pioneering rocketeer Robert H. Goddard, and the Rogers Aston Collection of the American West, which encompasses historical southwestern artifacts spanning from the sixteenth through the twentieth centuries.
Reviewed By K8732TBdanielb - Roswell, United States
Roswell has the best hidden secret in the Pecos Valley. This Museum has a touch of the Old West with the Aston Collection, one of the finest collections of Indian and Cowboy memorabilia in all of New Mexico, plus Art of Peter Hurd and Henriette Wyeth. Next is the Space work of Robert Goddard. Finishing it all off is the Robert H. Goddard Planetarium. Plan for couple hours to see it all. You will be amazed
3. National Radio Astronomy Observatory
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 305 reviews
This site is home to the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array astronomical radio telescope, one of four major telescopes operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO). The VLA is the most scientifically productive ground-based telescope in the world. Our visitor center and interpretive film will get you oriented to the purpose and function of the telescope, and a self-guided tour path will take you up close to one of the VLA's 27 230-ton dish antennas.
Reviewed By hamgal - Hanover, United States
The open house enabled us to go inside and learn about the Array as well as see the huge installation of radio telescopes. The presentations were very interesting and educational.
4. UNM Observatory
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 4 reviews
5. Planetarium at Santa Fe Community College
Overall Ratings
3.5 based on 2 reviews
People of all ages can explore the heavens at this imaginative planetarium, which combines entertaining presentations and interactive techniques with storytelling and informative astronomical programming.
