The UW-Madison Astronomy Department offers free public observing at Washburn Observatory on the first and third Wednesday of each month, and every Wednesday June through August, weather permitting. The Open House sessions are hosted by UW astronomy graduate students. The public viewing sessions are informal, so there is no lecture or tour.
The status of the upcoming Washburn Observatory Open House is displayed in the Washburn Twitter feed & on the Washburn webpage, which is usually updated approximately 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the session.