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Family Astronomy Livestream August 20: Star Clusters

Donald Observatory invites young astronomers and their families to join us to learn about star clusters! We will talk about their different types, how they form, and what happens at the end of their life.

Gift Shop Closed Thursday August 21

The gift shop at the Frank N. Bash Visitors Center will be closed on Thursday, August 21. If you are looking for McDonald Observatory souvenirs, our online gift shop will still be available to browse. The gift shop will re-open Friday, August 22. Thank you for your flexibility.

Meet the Universe’s Earliest Confirmed Black Hole: A Monster at the Dawn of Time

An international team of astronomers, led by UT Austin’s Cosmic Frontier Center, has identified the most distant black hole ever confirmed. It and the galaxy it calls home, CAPERS-LRD-z9, are present 500 million years after the Big Bang. That places it 13.3 billion years into the past, when our universe was just three percent of its current age.

Help Renovate Our Visitors Center - Gifts Being Matched!

As our Frank N. Bash Visitors Center enters its third decade in service, we’ve started an extensive renovation of its public spaces. You are invited to be part of this transformative project by contributing to its funding. All gifts are currently being matched by sponsors!

Free Star Parties for Texas Educators in August

Texas educators and their families are invited to join McDonald Observatory for a free Star Party in August. Register with discount code TeachStars and bring your school ID for free admission.

The Universe’s Secret Harvest: UT Astronomers Shed Light on “the Cosmic Grapes”

Astronomers have discovered a remarkably clumpy rotating galaxy that existed just 900 million years after the Big Bang, shedding new light on how galaxies grew and evolved in the early universe. Nicknamed the "Cosmic Grapes," the galaxy appears to be composed of at least 15 massive star-forming clumps - far more than current theoretical models predict could exist within a single rotating disk at this early time.