In 2013, we built an Observation Deck to allow safe access to part of the roof of the building. It provides a nearly unobstructed view of the sky that is not possible to achieve from within the observatory's main telescope dome. Only part of the northwest sky remains blocked by the building penthouse and observatory dome.
It is used during public open houses and group tours to point out constellations, talk about sky lore, and to observe objects with our portable telescopes.
Our students use our portable 20-cm telescopes and solar telescope to gain practical hands-on experience with manually-operated telescopes that might not be gained when using the computer-controlled main observatory telescope.
It also provides an awesome view of the SMU campus, south end of Halifax and its harbour.