The University of Arizona

Observatory News

July 20th, 2010

A Great Year to See the Perseid Meteor Shower

The annual Perseid meteor shower (the Perseids) occurs this year on the nights of August 10th-14th. The Perseids are often the best meteor shower of the year, with at least 10-30 meteors per hour visible even for beginning stargazers. The peak rates of meteors (also called shooting stars) will be seen on the nights of [...]


» Read more...

April 20th, 2010

Saturday, April 24 is Astronomy Day

See the Sun, Venus, Saturn and the Moon; free viewing, handouts, demonstrations and telescope raffle

On Saturday April 24, Flandrau Science Center will celebrate Astronomy Day with the Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association (TAAA), and The National Sharing the Sky Foundation (NSSF) with displays, handouts, free viewing through telescopes and more! The outside [...]


» Read more...

April 1st, 2010

Skywatchers’ Guide for April 2010

Skywatchers’ Guide for April 2010
HIGHLIGHTS: Saturn, in the eastern evening sky, is large and bright and now high enough in the evening sky for convenient evening telescopic viewing. The rings of Saturn appear very thin, as we view them nearly edge-on from Earth. Mars is high up overhead in the evening as well, but appears [...]


» Read more...

February 23rd, 2010

The GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaign, March 3-16: Take back the Night!

Where: Everywhere
When: 8pm to 10pm local time, March 3-16, 2010
Who: You! (Everyone!)
How: See http://www.globeatnight.org
2 out of 5 Americans, 1 out of 6 Europeans and 1 out of 10 people worldwide have never seen 90% of the stars in our night sky. With half the world’s population now living in cities, this problem is only getting [...]


» Read more...

January 21st, 2010

Mars Approaches: Flandrau, Biosphere 2, Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter Host Joint Event

Every few years, the Earth passes Mars in their journeys around the Sun and we are given a front row seat to view our Martian neighbor up close and personal – these nights rising in the eastern sky around 8 p.m. While Mars will only look like a bright orange star with unaided eyes, telescopes [...]


» Read more...