Denver Astronomical Society 🔭

@denverastro.bsky.social

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Our mission is to increase public knowledge about #astronomy, promote the importance of maintaining dark skies, and encourage careers in astronomy, #space science, #astrophysics, and other physical sciences. Join us at denverastro.org #das #denverastro

Screen capture of a July 2026 calendar showing dates highlighted in green, indicating tickets are available for scheduled Astronomy Night events at DU's historic Csamberliln Observatory. The highlighted dates are July 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23, 25, 28, and 30. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.denverastro.org/reservations/
Photograph of D.U.'s historic Chamberlain Observatory at night. The exterior lights shine down on the brick, while interior lights emanate from the first floor windows and one window upstairs. The dome is closed, and a dark blue sky can be seen above with some clouds.
Screenshot showing the Denver Astronomical Society's booking calendar for April and May. Some dates are highlighted in green, indicating availability of tickets for sale to their Astronomy Night events. Other dates are highlighted in grey, indicating that an event is scheduled and sold out.
Promotional infographic advertising the Denver Astronomical Society's Q1 Astronomical Equipment Auction, happening online Feb 14th - 21st. DAS 2026 Q1 Astronomical Equipment Auction February 14-21 Bid now! Huge telescopes Mounts Wedges Motor Drives Tripods Power Tanks There is a QR code that takes you to the auction site, which is at https://www.32auctions.com/AuctionLink2026Q1
Long-exposure night-time photograph of DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory. The brick building is lit in a warm glow of downward-facing light fixtures and surrounded by lush green pine trees. The stars in the sky above the building are moving, forming an implied circle around the North Star, Polaris.
Chamberlin Observatory in Denver’s Observatory Park after an overnight snow frosted the ground and the trees. Photo by Daniel J. Schneider: https://schneidan.com/2016/05/29/yashica-mat/
Screenshot showing a January 2026 calendar with four Saturday dates highlighted in green. The dates are Jan 3, 10, 17, and 31, indicating dates with tickets available to purchase for Denver Astro's Astronomy Night events.
Happy Holidays from the Denver Astronomical Society
Graphic showing the positions and tilt of the Earth in relation to the Sun at the winter and summer solstices and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. The date at the top shows December 21 at 8:03 am MDT, the time when the Earth will reach its winter solstice.
Infographic showing the Denver night sky looking east at about 11 pm, December 10th. The Moon and Regulus are in a close conjunction in the constellation Leo.
Image of galaxy M77. M77 is one of the largest galaxies in the Messier catalog. It is located in the constellation Cetus at a distance of 45 million light-years from Earth. M77 has an apparent magnitude of 9.6 and is visible in a small telescope. It is most easily observed during December. Initially identified as a nebula by the French astronomer Pierre Méchain in 1780. Both Messier and Méchain were comet hunters who cataloged nebulous objects that could be mistaken for comets. Messier, Méchain, and other astronomers of their time mistook the M77 for either a spiral nebula or a star cluster. This mischaracterization isn’t surprising. More than a century would pass between the discovery of M77 and the realization that the ‘spiral nebulae’ scattered across the sky were not part of our galaxy but were in fact separate galaxies millions of light-years away. Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker
Infographic showing the waxing gibbous Cold Moon moving through the open star cluster, M45, also known as Pleiades or Seven Sisters, high in the eastern sky in the constellation Taurus at 7:30 PM on Dec 3, as seen from the night sky in Denver.
Illustration showing a woven cornucopia with planets and stars spilling out against an orange to black gradient background. The captions read, "Happy Thanksgiving" and "Denver Astronomical Society." The color palette contains warm Autumn colors, such as yellow and orange.
Photograph of 2025 Doveed Levy Youth Service Award winner, Cate Davis.
Infographic showing the Denver night sky as seen looking east on November 10, around 11:00 p.m. MT. The Moon can be seen near the Beehive Cluster, and Jupiter is high up in the sky
Wide-shot time-lapse photograph of DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory at night. Above the dome to the left is Polaris, the North Star, and the other stars of the night sky are circling around it. The building is dimly lit, and red light can be seen in the windows upstairs inside the dome, which is open to the south. Tall pine trees surround the building..
Fun cartoon image showing 4 spooky Halloween characters looking through telescopes at a witch silhouetted against a crescent Moon in a starry sky. Text reads, "Happy Halloween, Denver Astronomical Society"
Promotional graphic with an illustration of imagined stars and constellations on a sky filled with nebulae in the background. The text reads, "2025 D.A.S. Annual equipment action, Part 2. October 15-23. Bidding starts at Noon. Cave Optical, Celestron, Meade, Orion, S&S Optika, Tele Vue." There is a QR code that can be scanned that takes you to the auction site at https://www.32auctions.com/DAS2025_2
A graphic depicting the night sky as seen looking to the east from Denver on Oct 15 at 2 am. The Moon is near the Beehive Cluster, and Jupiter is high in the sky.
Guests enjoy the displays and the vintage telescope at DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory on Denver Astronomical Society's Astronomy Night.
Graphic showing the Moon near the Pleiades cluster in the eastern sky, as expected to be seen from Denver, CO, around October 9, 2025, at 11:00 p.m.
DU's historic Chamberlin Observatory seen at dusk.
Image of the Moon highlighting William Henry Pickering's list of 12 lunar features that grow harder and harder to see.