Joseph R. Grundy Observatory

Here we go again - another comet. Since you don't have anything else to do and tonight promises to be clear, give this comet a try. It isn't bright enough to se...e with your eyes only but a pair of binoculars should be enough. It is comet Atlas, aka C\2019 Y4, and it has been getting much brighter this past week. Also, it is inbound towards the Sun so it will only get brighter. I've included a sky chart - just find the bowl of the Big Dipper and use the stars indicated in the chart to find the comet. Let me know if you see it...Lane See more

We thought we would reprint an excerpt from a letter sent today to the membership of a great organization, The International Dark Sky Association, by it's Executive Director, Ruskin K. Hartley: Many of us are facing new anxiety and fear due to the uncertainty and enormity of what we are experiencing together. Studies have demonstrated how just ten minutes in nature brings benefits to our health and wellbeing. Dark Sky supporters often share stories about the rejuvenation they feel under the stars. Taking a few moments to look up at the sky at the end of the day whether from a window, balcony, back yard, or park can help lift the spirits and remind us that we are all connected under one big sky.

Well, stargazing at public observing is always a wonderful activity, but it isn't essential in the short run (and we hope there will be clear nights aplenty ahead), but given the public health concerns of the moment we think it is wise not to hold public observing this month. For this month the little things visible through a microscope have the upper hand over the big things we look at through the telescope! Keep yourself healthy, and check back here next month to see what's going on with public observing then.

What's up in the March sky? If you're up early, you'll want to go out and look toward the east to catch a lovely grouping of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. This mont...h, you can also get a closer look at Sirius (aka the Dog Star) which is a blue-white star, about twice as massive as our Sun. Sky charts and more info are available at https://go.nasa.gov/3aqvJmJ

There won't be any public observing Monday February 17th because we need to give observatory the benefit of the doubt, and because the weather forecast for Monday looks very unlikely to be favorable as of Friday 2/14. Thanks for your understanding, and follow us next month as we hope to offer better conditions for observing.

Pictures taken by Grundy members

Old pictures of the observatory and those who cared for it as well as articles written about it.

Gary Seronik put together this great list of resources for beginners in backyard astronomy. Stargazing is one of the oldest hobbies and if you have kids, is a way to give them a lifelong sense of wonder and appreciation for our world. Give this a look to start your year in amateur astronomy!

It was discovered using TESS data that Thuban, a former North Star, is part of a binary pair of stars that eclipse each other! It may be stunning that we haven't seen this before since they eclipse each other every 51 days, but Thuban is so bright that it quickly saturates detectors at NASA's Kepler observatory. This discovery was presented by Angela Kochoska from University of Villanova in our very own PA.

Good day for ground-based astronomy! SpaceX says that the next batch of Starlink satellites that goes up in late December of this year will be treated to make them less reflective. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX president and chief operating officer said, "Astronomy is one of the few things that gets little kids excited about space," and wants to make sure kids can still look through their telescope.

Tomorrow's planned public observing was cancelled due to poor weather conditions that are sure to prevail. We plan to have normal observing next month on the third Monday. Thanks!

8/21/17 total solar eclipse from Anderson, SC Baily's Beads

WS 1001 weather station reinstalled after new roof.