SFU Trottier Observatory

Where there is smoke, there are pyrocumulonimbus heat-storms: the hazy air means that there is no Starry Nights tonight, August 14. We hope to see you next week, and our friends at the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver.

With incoming clouds predicted for this evening, there will be NO Starry Nights, tonight, August 7. We hope to see you under clearer skies next week, along with our friends at Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver.

Starry Nights is ONLINE tonight! Join us on YouTube 10-11pm for views of the ring-ed Rose Cluster (M5), and the gorgeous Iris Nebula, along with brief presentations on the multi-star system Albireo and research on giant star-forming clumps in the early universe.

Starry Nights LIVE from the Trottier Observatory (July 31st, 2026) Watch images of outer space being taken in real time! Live from th...

Starry Nights is ON tonight! Join us in person at Burnaby campus 10pm to midnight to view a wetland-themed line up of targets tonight including the Lagoon Nebula, Swan Nebula and Wild Duck cluster, along with Bode's Galaxy.

Observatory guests will sign up for entry using a queuing website (scanning the QR code) for virtual queuing. Last call to sign in to the queue is at 11:30pm.

Thanks to Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver for helping us make these events happen! https://ow.ly/Lobw50ZstFF

The forest is getting a much-needed watering today so we are not going ahead with Starry Nights tonight.

We're in for another cool and cloudy Friday evening here so we will not be going ahead with Starry Nights tonight. Thanks always to Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver who are on-call every week to help us make these events happen!

Tonight's forecast is overcast and Starry Nights is unfortunately cancelled for tonight, July 3. We hope to see you next week. Thanks as always to our friends at Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver for their support of Canada's biggest Star Party!

There is a welcome respite from the heat, but the clouds and drizzle mean that there is no Starry Night Online tonight, June 26.

Thanks as always to our friends at the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver for their continued support of Canada's Biggest Star Party!

After the past week of watching stars on the soccer field, it's time to look up again: Starry Nights is ON tonight, June 19, from 10:00 pm to midnight! Join us for views of the Rose cluster, the Crescent nebula and the vast galaxy M87.

Thanks as always to our friends at Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Vancouver for helping make these events Canada's Biggest Star Party.

Tomorrow, June 17, the Moon will pass in front of Venus blocking it from view, an event called a "lunar occultation of Venus". First contact is at 11:43 am, and Venus emerges at 12:50 pm.

To see this relatively rare event, the Trottier Observatory will be open for in-person viewing from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm. Both Venus and the Moon are visible during the day and we are so excited to share this event with you.

You can also watch our live feed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9jtm9LFnrI

Please note that unlike our Starry Nights Live online streams, there will be no audio commentary since our staff will be busy at the open house.