09/16/2026
This is how it is DONE! So excited for the University of Montana, the libraries of Montana, the state of Montana and especially the residents of Montana. Enjoy your big skies!!!!
- Huge congratulations to our colleagues at the University of Montana’s spectrUM Discovery Area on this fantastic effort! 🔭✨
There’s something powerful about the idea that a library card can become a ticket to exploring the night sky.
Through this initiative, telescopes are distributed to public libraries across Montana, giving families the opportunity to check out a telescope just as they would a book. The project, a $250,000 NASA TEAM II STEM Innovator award to the University of Montana, will also connect communities with NASA scientists, missions, educational resources, and programming.
What we especially appreciate about this work is its reach. In rural and tribal communities—many of which have extraordinary access to dark skies—a telescope available through the local library can open a remarkable window into science, curiosity, and discovery right from someone’s backyard.
It’s also a wonderful example of what our colleagues at spectrUM do so well: meeting people where they are, removing barriers to participation, and finding creative ways to make science something people can experience for themselves.
And there’s a great long-term story behind it: a telescope that spectrUM’s Nicholos Wethington helped place at the Missoula Public Library years ago is still being checked out today.
Congratulations to Nicholos and the entire spectrUM team, along with their library and community partners. This is exactly the kind of thoughtful, imaginative public engagement that can spark a lifelong interest in science—and perhaps inspire the next generation of astronomers, engineers, and explorers.
What a great idea, and what a great contribution to communities across our state!
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