Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium, Educational astronomical observatory and planetarium in French Camp, Mississippi, United States

The Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium is an educational astronomical facility near French Camp, Mississippi, operated as a ministry of French Camp Academy. It has over 16 telescopes, including a 32-inch Dobsonian and a 14-inch Celestron catadioptric telescope. The planetarium building has a 30-foot dome with a Spitz projector and a computer room; a nearby building provides a meeting room, exhibition space, dormitories and showers. Observatory buildings sit on a hilltop above the activity complex.

Rainwater Observatory and Planetarium operates as an educational ministry of French Camp Academy near French Camp, Mississippi. The sources do not record a founding year. Its telescope collection, including a 32-inch Dobsonian and a 14-inch Celestron, makes it the largest observatory in Mississippi. A two-story building already stands ready for the 25-inch Sollee Telescope, awaited for research-grade work.

The facility hosts the Midsouth Star Gaze, an annual gathering of amateur astronomers during the new moon weekend in late March or early April. This event draws people who share a passion for observing the night sky.

The observatory sits in Mississippi's last remaining dark spot on the U.S. Dark Skies photograph, so night sessions are the main draw. The meeting and exhibition building next door has dormitory space and male/female group bathrooms with showers for multi-day stays. The video astronomy van travels within about a 100-mile radius of French Camp for outreach visits.

Between the activity buildings and the hilltop telescope cluster, markers reproduce the arrangement of the Stonehenge standing stones with their annual rise and set points, and a collection of sundials lines the route. The video astronomy van carries large LCD monitors and travels within about a 100-mile radius of French Camp.