Out of this world! Offered daily, the 90-minute tour of the Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab begins at…read moreSteward Observatory, where two university hosts meet the group (12 people in ours) and begin with a quick introductory talk and video session, to describe what you'll see in the lab. Our outstanding guides, Adrian and Sage, were friendly, informative, and engaged, encouraging questions and offering interesting insights about the telescope-mirror production process as well as the U of A's astronomy program as a whole. Next, it's a short walk to the lab, housed within the infrastructure of the football stadium. From various catwalk vantages, visitors can photograph the rotating furnace apparatus used to melt the Ohara E-6 borosilicate glass and also view the extensive grinding, cleaning, and polishing processes. The lab is currently in charge of fabricating the seven 8.4-meter spin-cast mirrors that will form the heart of the Giant Magellan Telescope, which will have capabilities up to 200x more powerful than today's best land-based telescopes and is expected to take images 10x sharper than Hubble. It's amazing to hear about the innovation involved in this project that spans decades, and it's even more dazzling and inspiring to see it in person -- a stellar opportunity that will leave you starry-eyed!

Optics geek or not, the Steward Observatory Mirror Lab tour is a fantastic way to spend an…read moreafternoon. Even if the only mirror you've ever seen is the one you look at to fix your hair, the tour guides make it very easy to appreciate the astronomical investment in time, money, effort and sheer brain power that goes into creating each and every one of these massive mirrors. We had ample time to ask questions and the tour guides had good answers for everything we asked.

My mom and I booked a star tour because we really wanted to take advantage of the clear skies and…read morelow humidity of the Tucson area. Benjamin was great with email and text communication and offered us a time and day that worked for us. The price for a private tour was reasonable and he was generous with his time. He has a really impressive portable telescope that projects digital images on a large monitor. He is super knowledgeable and has a good way of explaining scientific concepts to people of every level of astronomy, from beginner to expect. I highly recommend this experience!

We had the pleasure to have Arizona Star Tours as a guest at a conference dinner. They brought…read moretheir telescope and traveling astronomer. It was amazing to see so many stars even on a semi cloudy night. We learned about Star clusters and other stars. Very cool to have at a party or dinner event.

Took my grandson who is majoring in Astrophysics, my wife , and 3 daughters here for a night of…read morestargazing. It was super. We had our own astronomer and a 12" telescope. Saw stuff that was millions of light years away. You have to make reservations in advance. Well worth it.

The Mt. Lemmon Sky Center is one fo the "gems" of Tucson! Visitors from around the country, the…read moreworld and locals with them, enjoy viewing many celestial objects through the research grade 32 inch Schulman Telescope from its 9,157 ft. summit is spectacular! The stars, planets, nebula and galaxies come into sharp focus on any starry night! Presentations by very knowledgeable astronomers or serious amateurs on staff who create interesting programs are terrific! Expand your horizons! Definitely, put this on your "bucket list" - of "things to do" when in or near Tucson!

SkyNights was an unforgettable adventure! Credit the breathtaking sky island setting, ideal for…read morewatching both the sunset and the stars, and our engaging and knowledgeable guides Jeronimo and Will. And we got lucky: Clear skies and the first two-comet night these two had ever experienced (including Comet Lemmon, just discovered here). I would recommend this engaging and information-rich experience to anyone.

I attended a planetarium show here about our solar system and it was really interesting! I also…read morelearned a lot. If i ever visit Tucson again, I definitely wanna go back here! After the show, I only had an hour to explore before the museum closed, so I did have to rush through the museum, but it was worth it! Really cool museum with lots of interesting info and artifacts. They also have a cute gift shop.

A must see in town ! All kinds of great shows here . I've been several times and haven't seen the…read moresame presentation yet .

Solar culture is a classic music venue and art valley with a downtown location and underground…read morefeel. Transport to another world at any number of their multidimensional events!

You know you have escaped the evil clutches of the heartless, money-grabbing mainstream industry…read morewhen a venue freely lets patrons walk in with backpacks full of booze and distribute it with their friends. I usually keep to just flasking it to Solar culture, but the lax, BYOB closed-container policy creates a unique house party concert vibe without the hours of standing around while your friends try to make their music equipment work properly. Although its not to far removed from such an experience since Solar culture is primarily an arthouse, doesn't have the greatest soundsystem and setup you will ever see, and I think for the most part the workforce and performers are as high as the patrons. I have dealt with a share of long waits between sets and all-to-average sound from Deerhoof, Voxtrot, Architecture in Helsinki, and the like. You also might have to bring a pair of binoculars to a show if you get there late to a packed house because of its awkward long and narrow build. There are great views of the band because of the raised stage, but once it gets past half capacity you might have to barter your way up closer with some of the cans of PBR you have in your Jansport. I was also permanently mentally scared by this place when Death From Above 1979 canceled their show there the day of. They never came back, and now they are gone. I can't help but think of how excited I was for that show (more then any other to date) and how heart-broken I was whenever I think of this place. *goes to cry beneath his desk*

Came here back in 2023 with some friends who were out of town and this was definitely not worth the…read moreexperience. The tickets were extremely expensive only to last a whole 30 minutes maybe in the museum. The only thing that my friends and I enjoyed was the VR experience, that was an extra cost :/ we also enjoyed the surround view photo room but other than those two things there wasn't much to impress us. If the gift shop had more intriguing items that weren't so expensive, I am sure we would've walked out with something we had purchased. Will not be coming back to this exhibit.

I r been to this exhibit twice now and I'm planning to go once more at least. I can't stop sharing…read morethis with my family and friends. It's self-paced and includes SO much of Van Gogh works presented in the most amazing ways. There are several mini exhibits before you get to the immersion room. After they have a 3D experience, photos and coloring for the kiddies. They have great little gift shop too. The staff is super duper nice. Autumn was especially helpful. I had my elderly mom with me and Autumn was so flexible and patient. She also explained to me a lot about the exhibit and how I can track if it's been extended again. I'm hoping so because I'd love to go back in both February and March with friends.

This museum is on the smaller side fyi but its very inspiring. I love that its free as well! My…read morefriend and I were greeted as soon as we walked in and I already plan on coming back when the new exhibit opens next week.

I don't get to Tucson very often, but I do try to stop here whenever I am in town. I am a huge…read morelover of photography and really enjoy walking through these galleries on U of A campus. They always have some nice exhibitions that change out every few months. Center For Creative Photography is free and open to the public. CCP is a research institution devoted to preserving the history of photography and is part of the university's Fine Arts Complex. In addition to their galleries, they have a lecture hall that is used for class lectures and a collection of print resources devoted to photography. You can park for free across the street on Speedway Blvd. Center For Creative Photography has a collection of over 100,000 images from more than 2,000 photographers. They were established in 1975. Photographer Ansel Adams is one of the founders and his work along with many other famous photographers are archived here. I subscribe to their email and enjoy viewing some of their collection online. CCP welcomes donations and offers an annual membership that helps keep this gallery free and open for everyone.