Geminid Meteors Peak December 13-14

The Geminid meteor shower will be at its best after dark on Friday, December 13, and before dawn on Saturday, December 14, according to the editors of the observatory's StarDate magazine.
GMT 3rd mirror

GMT's Third Mirror Unveiled

The Giant Magellan Telescope’s third primary mirror was unveiled at the University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Mirror Lab on December 6. The University of Texas at Austin is a partner in the project to build the GMT, along with several other universities and instituions in the U.S. and around the world. [GMTO photo]
Struve Dome with Workers

Bring the Struve Telescope Model Home to Texas!

We need your help to bring the model of our first telescope back to Texas for our 75th anniversary. We've started a campaign to raise $18,000 to ship the model from storage in Ohio back to Texas for display in the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum next summer. Your gift will make a difference! Click to visit our campaign, and please share it far and wide!
Artist concept

A Galaxy Far, Far Away

Steven Finkelstein has led a team that has discovered and measured the distance to the most distant galaxy ever found. The galaxy is seen as it was at a time just 700 million years after the Big Bang. The result will be published in the Oct. 24 issue of the journal Nature.
HET w/crane

HET Upgrade Under Way

Engineers and astronomers are working on upgrading the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in preparation to begin the HET Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX). Read about the telescope upgrade, and find out more about HETDEX, a project to study one of the most fundamental mysteries in science today. (Photo by David Doss/McDonald Observatory)

Celebrate Our 75th!

Celebrate Our 75th!

Share your memories and see what we're planning around Texas. 

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In the Sky

Dec 10: Dog Stars

Two "dog stars" rise in mid evening. The brighter of the two is Sirius, the brightest star in Canis Major, the big dog, and in the entire night sky. Procyon, the brightest star of Canis Minor, the little dog, stands well to the left of Sirius.

More stargazing »