STEM Education, Astrophysics Research, Astrophotography, and Outreach located at 24 Park Ave., Bridgewater MA. You'll find us on the two outdoor balconies on the 5th floor, and you'll find our official website here: https://www.bridgew.edu/center/case/observatory .
150 posts
Latest Posts by bsuobservatory - Page 2
Video of the Day!
NASA's Parker Solar Probe broke a record! It got within 3.8 million miles of the Sun's surface - closer than any human-made object before! Not only that, it's the fastest human-made object, reaching a speed of about 435,000 mph.
Astronomy Word of the Day
The Magellanic Clouds are two small, irregular dwarf galaxies outside of the Milky Way. These two galaxies are visible in the skies of the southern hemisphere, close to the South Celestial Pole, so they don't appear to set!
Image: https://aaa.org/.../01/southern-skies-the-magellanic-clouds/
So gorgeous! Here's the NASA article to go with the pic.
Christmas Tree Cluster
NASA
Wed. 11/20 - We'll be closed tonight due to clouds.
Wed. 11/20 - We're not sure about tonight's weather yet. We'll try to decide by 3:30 pm if we'll open tonight.
Wed. 11/13: We expect gorgeous, clear skies tonight! We'll be open, 6 -7 for public night and from 7 - 9 for attendees of Open Lab Night.
Please be aware the elevator which goes to the 5th floor (observatory) is out of order. We will only be accessible by stairs tonight, though you can still take the other elevator to the 4th floor.
Happy fun fact Friday!
Did you know that the largest canyon system in the solar system is Valles Marineris on Mars? The image shows the Valles Marineris compared to the US coast to coast and the Grand Canyon!
Source: NASA
Wed. 11/6: We'll be closed tonight - we expect lots of clouds rolling in after sunset. We'll try again next week!
Today's word of the day is "earthshine" which is when the Earth reflects the Sun's light so that it makes the dark side of the moon glow! Super cool.
Image credit: Abhijit Juvekar
Dragons fighting in space?
Just kidding. These "dragons" are made up of gas and dust in the emission nebula NGC 6188, which is 4000 lightyears away in the Ara constellation!
Image by: Carlos Taylor
Happy Halloween, everyone!
2024 October 27
LDN 43: The Cosmic Bat Nebula Credit & Copyright: Mark Hanson and Mike Selby; Text: Michelle Thaller (NASA’s GSFC)
Explanation: What is the most spook-tacular nebula in the galaxy? One contender is LDN 43, which bears an astonishing resemblance to a vast cosmic bat flying amongst the stars on a dark Halloween night. Located about 1400 light years away in the constellation Ophiuchus, this molecular cloud is dense enough to block light not only from background stars, but from wisps of gas lit up by the nearby reflection nebula LBN 7. Far from being a harbinger of death, this 12-light year-long filament of gas and dust is actually a stellar nursery. Glowing with eerie light, the bat is lit up from inside by dense gaseous knots that have just formed young stars.
∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap241027.html
Wed. Oct. 30: We'll be closed tonight due to clouds. We'll try again next week!
Wed. Oct. 22: We'll be open tonight from 7 - 8 pm. We expect some clouds, but we should still be able to catch some nice glimpses of the sky. Saturn is still the star of the show!
A personal item was found on the observatory decks the day after our public night. If you lost something, check with the Dean's office in the DMF Science and Math Center!
Wed. 9/25: We'll be closed tonight due to clouds. We'll try again next Wednesday!
Happy Monday!
Today's picture of the day was taken by Matthew Dominick from the ISS! The image shows a giant jet lightning, which is a new discovery (only 23 years!) and associated with thunderstorms. While regular lightning travels between the ground and the clouds, giant jet lightning bursts upwards.
Did you know that there are 5 known dwarf planets in our solar system? Everyone knows Pluto, but there is also Ceres, Haumea, Makemake and Eris.
Info from: https://www.iau.org/public/themes/pluto/#n6
Many things in space stay the same for a human lifetime, but not the Bat Shadow. Hubble pictures taken 404 days apart show it “flapping” as the shadow changes position. It’s the result of a saddle-shaped disk: https://bit.ly/3Y5qu7W
Wed. Aug. 21 - We'll be open to the public tonight from 8:30 - 9:30 pm!
Happy Wednesday! It's time for an astronomy word of the day!
Asterism - an asterism is any prominent star pattern that isn’t a whole constellation, such as the Northern Cross or the Big Dipper (pictured below)
Definition from: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-terms/ Image from: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/a-new-way-to-see-the-big-dipper/
Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA
Image taken by Alexandros Maragos
There was a supermoon yesterday (August 19th), which means that the moon appears larger and brighter than usual! Alexandros Maragos took this image as the blue supermoon was approaching its peak at the Temple of Poseidon in Greece. What an incredible image!
2024 August 10
The Light, Dark, and Dusty Trifid Image Credit & Copyright: Robert Edelmaier and Gabriele Gegenbauer
Explanation: Messier 20, popularly known as the Trifid Nebula, lies about 5,000 light-years away toward the nebula rich constellation Sagittarius. A star forming region in the plane of our galaxy, the Trifid does illustrate three different types of astronomical nebulae; red emission nebulae dominated by light from hydrogen atoms, blue reflection nebulae produced by dust reflecting starlight, and dark nebulae where dense dust clouds appear in silhouette. The reddish emission region, roughly separated into three parts by obscuring dust lanes, is what lends the Trifid its popular name. The cosmic cloud complex is over 40 light-years across and would cover the area of a full moon on planet Earth’s sky. But the Trifid Nebula is too faint to be seen by the unaided eye. Over 75 hours of image data captured under dark night skies was used to create this stunning telescopic view.
∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240810.html
Wed. Aug. 14 - The weather looks good! We'll be open tonight 8:30-9:30 pm.
Wed. Aug. 14 - The weather looks good tonight so far, but check back later for our final weather decision. If it stays nice enough, we'll be open from 8:30 - 9:30 pm!
According to this article on NASA's website, Eta Carinae, a star in the Keyhole Nebula, went through an interesting outburst about 170 years ago, which made it one of the brightest stars in the southern sky. Check it out!
Wed. 7/31: We'll be closed tonight due to clouds. Stay tuned for updates about August!
So far, the forecast this Wednesday doesn't look good, but we'll wait til that day to make the announcement. Stay tuned for August public night announcements, too!
July 2024 Public Nights
The observatory will be open to the public, weather allowing, on Wednesdays July 24 and 31 from 9:00 pm - 10:00 pm. Please check back the afternoon of the event for our weather decision!
Wed. Apr. 17: Another cloudy night, so we'll be closed. We'll try again next week.