2004 Transit of Venus

Join us for the June 5 Transit of Venus!

Join us on the afternoon/early evening of June 5, 2012, for live views of, talks about, and demonstrations explaining the last transit of Venus across the face of the Sun until the year 2117.
In this aerial view, the two large domes in the foreground are the 2.1-meter Str

Work for McDonald Observatory

Located in the beautiful Davis Mountains of West Texas near the town of Fort Davis, The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory offers unique and meaningful positions from those of engineers to cafe workers. Click to learn more about positions that are currently available, and re-visit often as more jobs are being added. Volunteering opportunities are also available.
LCO dome at sunset

Las Cumbres Telescope Sees First Light

The first of a planned suite of telescopes of the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope (LCOGT) Network achieved first light recently at McDonald Observatory. The 1-meter (40-inch) telescope will be used for both research and outreach to K-12 schools. It is part of a large planned network of LCOGT telescopes to be installed around the world.

Mountaintop Blast Levels Site for Giant Magellan Telescope

The March 23 detonation of a mountain peak at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile initiated site preparation for the construction of the Giant Magellan Telescope. The event was streamed live courtesy of the US Embassy in Chile, and the video now is available.
Tackling Dark Energy

Tackling Dark Energy

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) will be the first major experiment to search for dark energy, a mysterious force causing the universe's expansion to speed up. It will use the giant Hobby-Eberly Telescope at McDonald Observatory to map the three-dimensional positions of one million galaxies.
Make a Cosmic Connection on Your iPhone

Make a Cosmic Connection on Your iPhone

The free University of Texas iPhone app now provides timely information from McDonald Observatory. Get our latest news, see a photo gallery, and use the interactive map and driving directions to find us. Enjoy weekly skywatching tips, listen to StarDate radio, and find out what's in the latest issue of StarDate magazine.

This Week in the Domes

In the Sky

May 16, 2012

star iconLeo, the lion, dives head-first toward the western horizon during May and June evenings. Tonight, it stands high overhead as darkness falls and sets about six hours later. The last of its bright stars to set is Denebola, “the lion's tail.”

More stargazing »