Maria Mitchell Association

"Fun with the Family"

Maria Mitchell was the first professional woman astronomer to discover a comet (the Maria Mitchell Comet), and she did it on Nantucket, from the roof of the Pacific Bank located downtown. Her father constructed an observatory on top of his bank building on Main Street. The Maria Mitchell Observatory (3 Vestal Street; 508-228-9273) is a research facility but conducts daytime tours for daytime observation of the sun and sunspots. There are also permanent exhibits on display. The tours are at 11:00 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday during the summer season and at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday during the off-season. Later, the Loines Observatory (59 Milk Street Extension; 508-228-9273) was constructed; it is known for its nighttime tours held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00 p.m. mid-June through mid-September, and Friday evenings only September through mid-June. The visitor pass doesn’t include the nighttime tour, which charges $10 per adult and $6 per child ages 6 to 14 (free for children under 6). Maria Mitchell was the librarian at the Nantucket Athenaeum for twenty years before becoming an astronomy professor at Vassar College. The library of the Maria Mitchell Center (2 Vestal Street; 508-228-9219; open by appointment) has a section for kids, as well as a fascinating collection of Maria’s nineteenth-century science books and papers. Next door is Maria’s birthplace, aka the Mitchell House (1 Vestal Street; 508-228-2896), which has the telescope she was using when she discovered “her” comet. The Aquarium (28 Washington Street; 508-228-5387) gives visitors an insider’s look at the marine life of the island through its many displays and sponsors field trips. The Natural Science Museum, formerly known as the Hinchman House (7 Milk Street; 508-228-0898) is a natural-history museum focusing on Nantucket’s natural habitats; popular Nantucket ecology and birding trips are offered.