Tag archives: space
The newest space event in our town is the appointment of Dr. Gerard van Belle as president and observatory director for the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO). He fills the role previously held by Dr. Lisa Storrie-Lombardi who retired in September. Leading the search committee for Storrie-Lombardi’s successor was Chair Michael Skrutskie, University of Virginia. On […]
Westmont invites the local community to explore the night sky during its monthly free public stargazing event on Friday, June 19, beginning at 8:45 pm and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. “Weather permitting, visitors will have the opportunity to view the moon, the Hercules globular cluster, and Mizar and Alcor – a famous […]
The Westmont Observatory opens to the public Friday, April 17, after 7:30 pm for a night of stargazing that will feature views of Jupiter and the star pair Mizar and Alcor. The event is expected to last several hours. Mizar and Alcor, located in the handle of the Big Dipper, are two pairs of double […]
Stardate 79659.4 Hold on to your ears, Spock!* Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) Astrophysicist Andy Howell, PhD, head of the supernova research group, and his fifth-year UCSB graduate student Joseph Farah are part of an international research team featured on the cover of Nature (Volume 651, Issue 8105, March 12, 2026) for their discovery of “chirp” […]
In what would be one of her last LCO agenda items, Scientist and LCO Development Director Sandra Seale,Ph.D, announced that the organization is the recipient of a $3.8 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. These funds will purchase new cameras for LCO 1-m telescope global network, providing a significant enhancement in efficiency […]
Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope zooms in on the rings of Saturn on Friday, Oct. 17, beginning about 7 pm and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. Westmont hosts a stargazing event the third Friday of each month in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, whose members bring telescopes to share. “Saturn will be […]
The ringed gas giant Saturn comes into focus at Westmont’s stargazing event on Friday, September 19, beginning at sunset and lasting several hours. The solar system’s Hula-Hoop champion will start low in the evening sky, but will be visible later in the evening after 8 pm. The Owl Cluster, Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, and […]
If you live in Santa Barbara or the surrounding area, you’re likely no stranger to the thunderous boom that follows late-night rocket launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base. While the noise can be jarring, watching those rockets streak into the night sky is undeniably thrilling. If you’re like me, those launches have probably sparked your […]
This month’s stargazing event will feature several star clusters, including M18, the Black Swan Cluster in Sagittarius, on Friday, August 15, beginning about 8:30 pm and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory; home of the powerful Keck Telescope. The college hosts a free public viewing of the stars that lasts several hours, on the […]
That’s correct, Mr. Spock! We humble humans are now viewing the first images made public by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE/SC). The images were officially released the last week of June, and endearingly named […]
The Westmont Observatory offers views of Mars, a comet, and the Whirlpool Galaxy on Friday, June 20, beginning at 8:30 pm and lasting several hours. Westmont hosts a free, public stargazing event on the third Friday of every month in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Society, whose members bring their own telescopes to share. […]
“It suddenly struck me that that tiny pea, pretty and blue, was the Earth,” said Neil Armstrong shortly after the Apollo 11 Mission on July 20, 1969. “I put up my thumb and shut one eye, and my thumb blotted out the planet Earth. I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small.” […]
Blue Origins New Shepard rocket launched on Monday with its all-female crew, including Santa Barbara singer Katy Perry, CBS News anchor Gayle King, and Lauren Sanchez, fiancée of Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos. It soared through the Texas sky with the tony triumvirate and three other crew members enjoying a few minutes in space before returning […]
The Westmont Observatory opens to the public for a free stargazing event Friday, April 25, beginning about 8 pm and lasting several hours. Jen Ito, Westmont assistant professor of physics, says the college’s powerful Keck Telescope will zoom in on the gas giant Jupiter. “This will probably be the last time we’ll get to see […]
Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope will zoom in on Jupiter and its Galilean moons on Friday, March 21, beginning at 7:30 pm and lasting several hours. The Westmont Observatory is open to the public every third Friday of the month and held in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit, whose members bring their own telescopes […]
If the weather cooperates, the Westmont Observatory will open for the viewing of a rare lunar event beginning Thursday, March 13, at 10 pm and lasting until Friday, March 14, at 1 am. The powerful Keck Telescope will zoom in on a total lunar eclipse, which will be visible throughout North American and in some […]
Westmont’s final monthly stargazing event of 2024 features our solar system’s two gas giants, as well as Orion, the Owl Cluster, and the Andromeda galaxy – on Friday, December 20, at 6:30 pm and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. Along with the college’s powerful Keck Telescope, members of the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit […]
Captain’s Log Star Date 78338.4. It was the evening before the full Beaver moon for budding astrophysicists and stargazers from local universities to join with friends to hear the Las Cumbres Observatory’s renown astrophysicist Tim Lister PhD, with Andrew [Andy] Howell PhD and Moira Andrews UCSB grad student at the M Special pub. This free […]
The November public stargazing event will feature a Beaver Moon, Owl Cluster and two gas giants, Saturn and Jupiter, on Friday, Nov. 15 – beginning at 6 pm and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. The college hosts a free public viewing on the third Friday of every month in conjunction with the Santa […]
Westmont’s powerful Keck Telescope takes aim at Saturn and a supermoon at this month’s free public stargazing event on Friday, Oct. 18, beginning about 7 pm and lasting several hours at the Westmont Observatory. The college hosts a monthly star party on the third Friday of each month in conjunction with the Santa Barbara Astronomical […]
