🎄 December 16: Big Night at the Westport Observatory!

Yale’s Professor Larry Gladney joins us live in the WAS classroom:

“A Survey for the Ages: The Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time.”

It’s also our holiday party, so prepare for questionable sweaters, apple cider, and at least one astronomer trying to hang tinsel on the telescopes.

Join us! 👉 https://was-ct.org/events/larry-gladney-professor-of-physics-at-yale/

#WestportObservatory #WestportAstronomicalSociety #Astronomy #VeraRubinObservatory #Yale #Lecture

TONIGHT 12/3:
We’re riding high after a killer Giving Tuesday, and the universe seems to be celebrating with us!

The Cold Moon is almost full — bright enough to nuke the faint stuff — but Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune are all still on the menu. Bundle up… that moon lives up to its name.

Info: https://was-ct.org/programs/public-viewing/

#WestportObservatory #WAS #Astronomy #StarParty #ColdMoon #Supermoon #Jupiter #Saturn #Uranus #Neptune #Stargazing

We’re closing in!
Thanks to you, we’ve already raised nearly $2,000 toward our $3,500 Giving Tuesday goal. That’s a big boost for community science right here in Westport.

If you haven’t jumped in yet, now’s a great time to help us hit the finish line.

Donate: https://was-ct.org/donate/

#GivingTuesday #SupportScience #WestportObservatory #WAS #CommunityScience

Giving Tuesday is here!
We’re Westport’s little observatory with a big mission — and this is our only fundraiser of the year. We get no town, state, or federal funding, so every donation truly counts.

If you can shake loose a little change today, you’ll help us upgrade our classroom into a media-ready “Studio Observatory” for lectures, livestreams, and student projects.
Give if you can — it keeps science in our community.
https://was-ct.org/donate/

#GivingTuesday #WestportObservatory #Astronomy

Giving Tuesday is Dec 2!

When lockdowns hit, we kept our Free Science Lecture Series going on Zoom. Now it’s time to bring everyone back together. Instead of another telescope, we’re upgrading the Westport Observatory classroom to make it fully media-ready and welcome more people in person and online. If you’ve enjoyed our talks or streams, consider supporting the upgrade and help us make the next era of WAS science even brighter.

#GivingTuesday #WestportObservatory #WAS #Astronomy

Happy Thanksgiving!

From our families to yours, we hope your day is packed with good food, good laughs, and zero unexpected cosmic surprises (unless Betelgeuse finally blows—then all bets are off).

Huge thanks to our supporters, members, and their families. You’re the gravity that keeps this whole place together. 🦃🚀✨

#Thanksgiving #WestportObservatory #WAS

Clouds won this round. We hoped to open the observatory tonight, but the sky had other plans—so we’re CLOSED tonight (11/26). Wishing everyone a warm, happy Thanksgiving! And as Giving Tuesday (Dec. 2) approaches, please consider supporting the Westport Observatory. We’re raising funds to upgrade our classroom A/V system so we can keep delivering top-tier free science lectures.

#WestportObservatory #WestportAstronomicalSociety #Thanksgiving #GivingTuesday #Astronomy #Stargazing #ScienceForAll

Some communities go to the mat for their dark skies — and it pays off. Michigan now boasts 10 certified dark-sky places, but even there, industry keeps trying to chip away at the night. From detention-center glare hitting Big Cypress to mining threats in the Boundary Waters, oil and gas in the Arctic, and even industrial glow creeping into Chile’s legendary Atacama Desert.

Gifted NYT article: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/science/astronomy-michigan-dark-sky.html?unlocked_article_code=1.308._A_D.9D2VL2ofoQVz&smid=url-share

#DarkSkies #LightPollution #Astronomy #Conservation #WAS #WestportObservatory