Thomas More University Observatory

09/17/2026

09/13/2026

Light pollution affects more than just astronomy. Light pollution can pull migrating animals off course, so it is also a conservation issue! Tonight, a large number of birds will be migrating through our area. Don't forget to turn out unneeded lights!

Now is also a great time to brush up on best lighting practices: https://darksky.org/resources/guides-and-how-tos/lighting-principles/

08/30/2026

🙌🙌🙌

Our newest space telescope is on its way to revealing the universe's darkest secrets!

How much do you know about our Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope? We've got the key facts: https://go.nasa.gov/4clYwet

08/27/2026

Lunar Eclipse tonight!

Although tonight's eclipse will be a partial lunar eclipse, over 96% of the moon will fall in the umbra (the region fully within Earth's shadow). Eclipse begins around 10:30p Eastern. Near midnight, the moon will appear a reddish color as sunlight will still filter through Earth's atmosphere before striking the moon. This "filtering" process is the same physics behind why sunsets appear red! As the sun's light travels through Earth's atmosphere, blue light is scattered more than red light, leaving the reddish colored light to pass all the way through to the moon.

Here's what to expect:

On August 28, 2026 (the evening of the 27th in some time zones), the Moon passes into the shadow of Earth, creating a deep partial lunar eclipse. At the moment of greatest eclipse, 4:13 a.m. Univeral Time, 96.3% of the Moon's disk will be within Earth's umbra. The Americas are centrally located for....

08/18/2026

We are excited to announce the dates and times for the Fall half of the Astronomy Public Lecture Series. We'll kick off the Fall series with a lecture on September 19th at 7:30pm covering the Mind-Bending (and Space-Bending) Theory of Relativity!

Fall lectures will be held in Ziegler Auditorium. Hope to see you there!

06/09/2026

Tonight!

Get outside tonight (June 9) at sunset!

Venus and Jupiter meet up in the twilight skies after sunset on the western horizon, separated by only about 1.5°. Look for the twin stars of Gemini, Castor & Pollux, just to the right of the pair.

Don't forget to snap a pic and submit it to our 2027 calendar contest! https://bit.ly/4dd8UVy

04/27/2026

Hey everyone, thank you for a great spring season of lectures! The April 25th talk concludes the lecture series for the '25-'26 Academic Year.

If you are interested in a possible summer event, though, we'd appreciate some feedback in this short (2 minute!) survey: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/AL18Snykxt

As always, the TMU Observatory can host other outreach/observing events for local organizations (especially schools!) -- please just drop us a line.

Have a great summer!