Phillips Exeter Academy Grainger Observatory

08/15/2026

Dark sky-friendly lighting doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive! 🌙💡

Join DarkSky staff for a practical, hands-on session featuring DIY hacks, simple swaps, smart controls, and creative workarounds you can use to reduce light pollution at home and in your community.

We’ll put the 5 Principles of Responsible Outdoor Lighting into action, share solutions that work for renters and tricky spaces, and wrap up with a community show-and-tell, live Q&A, and networking.

Have a dark sky-friendly hack of your own? Bring your photos and ideas to share!

🗓 Date: August 19th, 2026
🕕 Time: 11:30 a.m. PDT
🔗 Become an advocate to register: https://bit.ly/3WhIpam

08/14/2026

How do engineers keep a nearly 50-year-old spacecraft running?

Engineers must balance a few priorities: keeping the spacecraft warm enough to operate, keeping as many instruments running as possible to gather valuable science data, and preserving the limited power so Voyager can venture deeper into interstellar space.

JPL engineers freed up power on Voyager 2 by simultaneously turning off certain devices and substituting them with lower-power alternatives. This operation, nicknamed the “Big Bang,” will prevent the mission from having to turn off another instrument on Voyager 2 before the end of 2026.

Learn more: https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/voyager/2026/08/04/nasa-engineers-help-prolong-voyager-2s-science-mission/

08/14/2026

Another eclipse? So Soon? YES!
This this time around, it is a nearly full (read "partial", but very close to total) LUNAR eclipse on the night of August 27/28, 2026... soon! Below is an infographic to help plan ahead. The times are in UT. Here in Exeter, partial phase starts at 10:33pm. Maximum eclipse is at 12:13am. Partial phase then ends at 1:52am. You'll need some coffee for this one, and a small, low power telescope, or better, a good pair of binoculars.

More info can be had here: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-press-releases/prepare-for-the-lunar-eclipse-on-august-27-28-2026/

08/13/2026

My take on the partial solar eclipse in this small series. These were taken through a TeleVue 80mm with a Baader Solar Wedge and a Nikon D810 DSLR. Conditions were good with only a few clouds rolling through. Seeing was not the best, but it was definitely better on the observing deck outside of the hot metal dome where the 16" scope is located. Each shot is 1/8000s 64iso and working the scope's f/7 focal length. Images were stacked into Photoshop, aligned and ordered here. No other editing was done.

08/12/2026

Reasonable conditions and good times with visitors. The partial eclipse is over. A good time for all.

08/12/2026

Ready for the partial eclipse. Wishing my friends in the path of totality clear skies!

08/08/2026

Eclipse Information for 12 August 2026:

If you happen to be on the path of totality, well done! There are a couple of solid locations on land this time around, including the northeast coast of Greenland, Reykjavík, Iceland and Spain. There are challenges between the weather and the fact that the Sun will be setting for many observers.

Here in Exeter, NH, USA, the eclipse will be short lived and partial. First contact here will be about 1:00pm local time. For us the end of the eclipse will be around 2:44pm local time. The point of maximum eclipse will be at about 1:50pm local time. If weather conditions permit, we will have the observatory open for viewing with safe solar filters and all.

For other locations and some information about what to expect, head here to these sites:
https://nso.edu/for-public/eclipse-map-2026/
https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Total_solar_eclipse_how_to_watch_live_from_home
https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/total-solar-eclipse-on-august-12-2026/

Clear skies,
~john

When the Moon slips in front of the Sun, those in the center of the Moon’s shadow will experience a total solar eclipse.

07/30/2026

A recent Focus Issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters introduces the fourth version of the gravitational transient catalog from the LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA collaborations.

07/14/2026

Unfiltered images of the sun today at 1pm local time. Gloomy. Forest fire smoke. 😢

07/02/2026

The Sun and its sunspots from June 27 to July 1. I'll likely get a few more if the daytime weather keeps being clear. Nice to see the Sun so active even in this downturn phase of the solar cycle.

Gear: 80mm TV refractor, Baader Solar Wedge, Nikon D810, and a boring non-tracking tripod. Be safe with solar observing, people.