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40 Hours for the Forty Acres

Support our efforts to provide FREE virtual visits to K-12 students! Programs include tours, live telescope observations, and moderated discussions between students and staff. 

Big Bend IDSR

Support the Big Bend International Dark Sky Reserve

McDonald Observatory seeks letters of support to help with designating more than 15 million acres in West Texas and Northern Mexico as a Dark Sky Reserve. 

Galaxies Pump Out Contaminated Exhausts

A international team including Danielle Berg and John Chisholm have confirmed that what flows into a galaxy is a lot cleaner than what flows out. This galactic gas cycle regulates the creation of stars. The study provides a concrete benchmark to test theories of galaxy evolution.

Planet Orbiting Nearby Barnard's Star Disproved

Astronomers have disproved a 2018-announced planet orbiting Barnard’s Star, the second-closest star to our Sun. The findings are based on observations with the Habitable Zone Planet Finder instrument on the Hobby-Eberly Telescope.

Exoplanet Gobbles Up Gas and Dust as it Builds Mass

Yifan Zhou and Brendan Bowler have used  Hubble Space Telescope to get a rare look at a young, Jupiter-sized planet that is growing by feeding off material surrounding a young star 370 light-years from Earth.