Did you know you can set up a telescope right in your backyard and let your Sims moon gaze for hours?
Just jump into Build Mode, search for “telescope,” and place the Back Pocket Observatory on your lot.
When your Sim uses the telescope, they get three options: they can Observe the Sky, Stargaze or Moongaze, but those last two only work at night.
All of these actions raise your Sim’s Fun and help with the Logic skill.
If your Sim has enough Mischief skill, some telescope interactions let them spy on neighbors. Your Sim can peer over fences and windows to watch other Sims, which can give interesting moodlets.
If you have the Werewolves pack, you will also see Avelina’s Trusted Telescope show up as an option. There is some fun lore tied to that one if you’re interested.
Avelina used it to track the moon phases in an attempt to figure out how they affect werewolf fury. Her research shaped a lot of what werewolves understand about the moon today, so using her telescope feels like continuing that work.
In The Sims 4: Growing Together, you can actually place a telescope on the treehouse platform. This lets your Sim stargaze from up in the tree, and it looks great too.
Death by Meteorite
Telescopes also come with a very dramatic risk. Using a full size telescope can trigger Death by Meteorite. This only happens at night while stargazing or moon gazing.
The game does warn you when a meteorite is about to fall, but the warning window is short. If your Sim does not get indoors fast enough, the meteorite hits them and they die instantly.
The ghost that comes from this death is easy to spot. They appear with a tiny burning meteor stuck in their chest, which makes them one of the more memorable ghosts in the game.
If your goal is to have a Sim meet this fate, keep them glued to the telescope night after night. The longer they stare at the sky, the more likely the meteorite event becomes. After four or five nights in a row, the odds jump noticeably.
One last thing to watch out for is the telescope itself disappearing. If it vanishes from your lot, it was probably stolen. Townies with the Kleptomaniac trait love swiping random objects.
Happy Simming!