Sharing the Night Sky with the Public Since 1949

For over seventy-five years, the Denver Astronomical Society has brought together stargazers across the Denver metropolitan area and beyond. The society hosts dozens of events and activities yearly to promote amateur astronomy across our unique region, one mile nearer the stars.

June

8:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Open House

Looking for a FREE fun family activity? Join the Denver Astronomical Society for our monthly Open House Saturday night at dusk. This event will occur on the south lawn of DU’s historic Chamberlin Observatory, 2930 E. Warren Avenue, Denver. Weather … Read More ...

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Astro Update – March

Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources New Target For Lucy – The Trojan asteroids are found in two groups along Jupiter’s orbit, one group at a 60 degree angle ahead of the giant planet, and the other 60 degrees behind. These are two of the planet’s Lagrange points, where the combined gravity of the Sun and Jupiter create stable areas in which small bodies may orbit. The Lucy spacecraft, now under construction, is planned to be the first to visit a Trojan. Lucy was designed to visit six of them over a period…
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Astro Update – February

Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources Betelgeuse, although long known to vary somewhat in brightness, is the dimmest it’s been in at least a century. Before these recent variations, it had been brighter than Rigel at its peak, but recently dimmed to the level of Bellatrix, dimmer than first magnitude. Located in the shoulder of the constellation of Orion, Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star nearing the end of its life more than 640 lightyears away. There’s debate about whether this is just an unusual variability or the prelude for it exploding as…
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Astro Update – January

Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources Milky Way Disk – Astronomers have known for more than 20 years that the disk of our Milky Way galaxy consists of two distinct populations of stars, differing in age and composition with the “Thin Disk” embedded within the “Thick Disk.” A new study of data from the star cataloging spacecraft Gaia and the ground-based Sloan Digital Sky Survey has found a third population, which the research team led by Daniela Carollo, of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics, had dubbed the metal-weak thick disk (MWTD). The…
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Astro Update – December

Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources Neutron Star Found – In 1987, astronomers witnessed the nearest supernova in hundreds of years explode in the nearby dwarf galaxy known as the Large Magellanic Cloud. Being the first observed of the year, the astronomical event was named SN 1987A. Astronomers have been monitoring the aftermath of this explosion ever since, learning much about supernovas. The star that exploded should have left behind a neutron star, but none had ever been found, until now when the ALMA radio telescope array in Chile finally located it. The…
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Chamberlin Observatory Tours

The Denver Astronomical Society hosts weekly and monthly events* at the University of Denver’s historic Chamberlin Observatory, which features its prized 1894 Alvan Clark-Saegmuller 20-inch refracting telescope. The Observatory serves as the DAS home base for numerous Astronomy Nights, Open Houses, and special events throughout the year.

Due to overwhelming demand, we are changing how we reserve our Astronomy Nights and adding more to the calendar. For details, see our Reservations page.

If you have any questions about EXISTING reservations or want to change your existing reservation, email us at reservations@denverastro.org.

M•45 – Pleiades, Seven Sisters, Subaru image by Darrell Dodge

Astrophotography Special Interest Group

The Denver Astronomical Society (DAS) has established a Special Interest Group amongst its members devoted to Astrophotography. Do you want to learn or improve your skills in astrophotography? Do you enjoy viewing pictures of the Sun, Moon, Planets, or Deep Sky Objects? Can you take similar images? You may have skills that you could pass on to novice members. Consider joining DAS and being part of this Special Interest Group. Please email us for more information. astrophotogroup@denverastro.org

The Van Nattan-Hansen-Anderson Scholarship

Established in 1973, the DAS Van Nattan-Hansen-Anderson Scholarship supports graduating high school and undergraduate college students majoring in astronomy and the physical sciences. Interested and eligible students are invited to apply for funding on the Scholarship Page.