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 – 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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The FrankenScope: How To Build Your Own Schmidt-Cassegrain And Why Not To

By Donald S. Lynn How To Build It More than 30 years ago I was attending the Riverside Telescope Makers Conference and Celestron was selling scrapped telescope parts at their booth. They were probably cleaning out their factory of stuff that customers had broken and brought in to be repaired. Looking at this assemblage of bits, I began wondering if I could buy a whole telescope and build it up piece by piece. The prices were so cheap that building a whole telescope this way would add up to a fraction of the cost of a new, fully assembled one.…
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Astro Update – November

Astronomy and space news summarized by Don Lynn from NASA and other sources Physics Nobel Prize – Because the Nobel Prizes do not have a category strictly for astronomy, astronomers whose work merits the honor are awarded the Physics Nobel. Three astronomers received the 2019 Physics award. James Peebles was recognized for his theoretical work on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and cosmology. He was one of the first to predict that the Big Bang had to have produced the CMB, and he went on to show what scientists could learn about the early Universe from the properties of 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.