bsuobservatory
STEM Education, Astrophysics Research, Astrophotography, and Outreach located at 24 Park Ave., Bridgewater MA. You'll find us on the two outdoor balconies on the 5th floor, and you'll find our official website here: https://www.bridgew.edu/center/case/observatory .
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Latest Posts by bsuobservatory
We'll be open tonight, Wed. 4/30, 8:30 - 9:45 pm!
We'll be open tonight, Wed. 4/23, 8:30 - 9:45 pm! We expect lovely skies.
Calling all geology and space lovers!
NASA's Perseverance rover has been collecting rock samples on Mars for 4 years now, and already there are some exciting finds! Check out the article here:
Space News!
A star located 12,000 lightyears from Earth engulfed one of its planets! It was previously believed that planets were engulfed by their stars expanding, but that isn't the case here. The planet, over millions of years, orbited closer to its star, to the point it was eventually engulfed by the star. The image is an artist's rendition of what happened.
Wed. 4/16: We'll be open from 8:30 - 9:45 tonight!
Wed. 4/16: Check back for our weather decision after 4 pm! The forecasts disagree.
ESA's Gaia Mission has been mapping the Milky Way for over 10 years! Check out its greatest discoveries in this short video (~5 minutes).
2025 April 5
The Gargoyles’ Eclipse Image Credit & Copyright: Bertrand Kulik
Explanation: In dramatic silhouette against a cloudy daytime sky over Paris, France, gargoyles cast their monstrous gaze outward from the west facade of Notre Dame Cathedral. Taken on March 29, this telephoto snapshot also captures the dramatic silhouette of a New Moon against the bright solar disk in a partial solar eclipse. Happening high in Parisian skies, the partial eclipse was close to its maximum phase of about 23 percent. Occurring near the end of the first eclipse season of 2025, this partial solar eclipse followed the total eclipse of the Full Moon on March 13/14. The upcoming second eclipse season of 2025 will see a total lunar eclipse on September 7/8 and partial solar eclipse on September 21. The partial solar eclipse will be seen only from locations in planet Earth’s southern hemisphere.
∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250405.html
The Fireworks Galaxy. Imaged at Bridgewater State University Observatory, Fall 2019. Reprocessed 2025. Credit: BSU Experimental Astrophysics Research (BEAR) Team.
We had an error on here earlier - fixed now.
Public nights are here!
4/2/25: We'll be closed tonight due to clouds and rain. We'll try again next week.
3/26: Public night is cancelled tonight due to clouds. We'll try again next week.
3/19: Our public night is cancelled. The forecast keeps getting worse. We'll try again next week!
3/19/25: So far it looks likely to cloud up, but we'll wait a few more hours before deciding whether to hold our public night.
Article of the Day!
“Dust in the Stellar Wind: A Cosmological Primer” by Pat Brennan
A reminder that our public Spring events start this week!
Public nights are here!
Picture of the Day!
The Pencil Nebula, 800 light-years away and nearly 5 light-years long, is a small part of the Vela supernova remnant. This supernova shock wave travels through space at over 500,000 kilometers per hour!
Image credit: Helge Buesing
Article of the Day!
"Gamma-ray Bursts: Harvesting Knowledge From the Universe’s Most Powerful Explosions" by Jenna Ahart
Picture of the Day!
This image is composed of consecutive shots taken near Llers in Spain’s Girona province, showing Comet Pons-Brooks. After passing closest to the Sun, it is now fading as it moves into the southern skies toward the outer Solar System.
Image credit: Juan Carlos Casado
Video of the Day!
Hubble has discovered that Jupiter’s red spot - a storm larger than Earth - is wobbling!
Article of the Day!
"What is Dark Energy? Inside our accelerating, expanding Universe" by Chelsea Gohd
Picture of the Day!
NGC 6188 Nebula is also known as the Firebird Nebula. It is an emission nebula located near the edge of a vast, dark molecular cloud in the southern constellation Ara, approximately 4,000 light-years from Earth.
Video of the Day!
NASA’s next mission to the Moon will carry LEXI (the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager), an instrument which will provide the first-ever global view of the magnetic field that shields Earth from solar radiation!
Each fall and spring season, we host a set of public observatory nights on Wednesday evenings. This spring, we're set to start on March 19, weather allowing. Schedule coming soon!
Article of the Day!
"How Gravity Warps Light" from NASA Universe Web Team
Picture of the Day!
Also referred to as Messier 31, the Andromeda Galaxy is the nearest major neighbor to the Milky Way. It is roughly twice the size of our galaxy and lies approximately 2.5 million light-years away.
Video of the Day!
An artist’s rendering shows us what happens when a star gets a little too close to a massive black hole!
Picture of the Day!
NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has captured a stunning image of the iconic Pillars of Creation, a region where new stars are being born within thick clouds of gas and dust. The three-dimensional pillars resemble towering rock formations, yet they are much more porous. Composed of cool interstellar gas and dust, they sometimes appear semi-transparent in near-infrared light.