bsuobservatory

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2025 June 25

Rubin’s First Look: A Sagittarius Skyscape Image Credit & License: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Explanation: This interstellar skyscape spans over 4 degrees across crowded starfields toward the constellation Sagittarius and the central Milky Way. A First Look image captured at the new NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the bright nebulae and star clusters featured include famous stops on telescopic tours of the cosmos: Messier 8 and Messier 20. An expansive star-forming region over a hundred light-years across, Messier 8 is also known as the Lagoon Nebula. About 4,000 light-years away the Lagoon Nebula harbors a remarkable cluster of young, massive stars. Their intense radiation and stellar winds energize and agitate this cosmic lagoon’s turbulent depths. Messier 20’s popular moniker is the Trifid. Divided into three parts by dark interstellar dust lanes, the Trifid Nebula’s glowing hydrogen gas creates its dominant red color. But contrasting blue hues in the colorful Trifid are due to dust reflected starlight. The Rubin Observatory visited the Trifid-Lagoon field to acquire all the image data during parts of four nights (May 1-4). At full resolution, Rubin’s magnificent Sagittarius skyscape is 84,000 pixels wide and 51,500 pixels tall.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250625.html

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Wed. 6/25: We'll be closed tonight due to clouds and scattered showers.

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We'll be closed tonight, Wed. 6/18 due to clouds. We'll try again next week!

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June 11: We'll be open tonight, 9 - 10:15 pm!

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We'll be open tonight, Wed. 6/4, from 9 - 10:15 pm!

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We'll be closed tonight, Wed. May 28 due to clouds. We'll try again next week!

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May - June 2025 Public Nights

We'll be open to the public on the following Wednesdays this May and June, weather allowing (please check here the day of the event for our weather decision):

May 28, 9:00 pm - 10:15 pm

June 4, 11, 18, and 25, 9:00 pm - 10:15 pm

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We'll be open tonight, Wed. 4/30, 8:30 - 9:45 pm!

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We'll be open tonight, Wed. 4/23, 8:30 - 9:45 pm! We expect lovely skies.

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Calling all geology and space lovers!

NASA's Perseverance rover has been collecting rock samples on Mars for 4 years now, and already there are some exciting finds! Check out the article here:

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Space News!

A star located 12,000 lightyears from Earth engulfed one of its planets! It was previously believed that planets were engulfed by their stars expanding, but that isn't the case here. The planet, over millions of years, orbited closer to its star, to the point it was eventually engulfed by the star. The image is an artist's rendition of what happened.

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Wed. 4/16: We'll be open from 8:30 - 9:45 tonight!

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Wed. 4/16: Check back for our weather decision after 4 pm! The forecasts disagree.

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ESA's Gaia Mission has been mapping the Milky Way for over 10 years! Check out its greatest discoveries in this short video (~5 minutes).

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2025 April 5

The Gargoyles’ Eclipse Image Credit & Copyright: Bertrand Kulik

Explanation: In dramatic silhouette against a cloudy daytime sky over Paris, France, gargoyles cast their monstrous gaze outward from the west facade of Notre Dame Cathedral. Taken on March 29, this telephoto snapshot also captures the dramatic silhouette of a New Moon against the bright solar disk in a partial solar eclipse. Happening high in Parisian skies, the partial eclipse was close to its maximum phase of about 23 percent. Occurring near the end of the first eclipse season of 2025, this partial solar eclipse followed the total eclipse of the Full Moon on March 13/14. The upcoming second eclipse season of 2025 will see a total lunar eclipse on September 7/8 and partial solar eclipse on September 21. The partial solar eclipse will be seen only from locations in planet Earth’s southern hemisphere.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250405.html

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The Fireworks Galaxy. Imaged at Bridgewater State University Observatory, Fall 2019. Reprocessed 2025. Credit: BSU Experimental Astrophysics Research (BEAR) Team.

[bsuobservatory]

We had an error on here earlier - fixed now.

Public nights are here!