🌎 USGS Seismometer Alert from the Westport Observatory

Our seismometer picked up the M7.6 earthquake that struck 74 km ENE of Misawa, Japan this morning at 9:15 AM (EST). A tsunami advisory is in effect — waves 0.3 to 1 meter above tide level are possible along parts of Japan’s coast and parts of the Pacific.

Keeping everyone in the region in our thoughts. https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000rtdt/executive

#Earthquake #USGS #Tsunami #Japan #WestportObservatory #Seismology #EarthScience

🚨 THE WRONG SUNSPOT KEEPS ERUPTING 🚨
While everyone’s watching monster AR4294–4296, the real action came from AR4299 on Dec. 6, firing an almost X-class M8 flare and launching a CME straight at Earth. A full-halo CME is inbound, with NASA eyeing a Dec. 9th arrival and possible G2–G3 geomagnetic storms. Mid-latitude auroras? On the menu.
More: https://spaceweather.com/

#SolarFlare #SpaceWeather #Aurora #CME #Astronomy #WestportObservatory #Sunspot #SolarActivity #GeomagneticStorm

🎄 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 smashed our $3,500 Giving Tuesday goal and hit $4,750! On top of that, we received an incredible gift: a Paramount MYT™ Series 6 Robotic Mount worth $9,000. A phenomenal day for community science. Thank you to everyone who helped us blast past the goal! You can support the Westport Observatory anytime: https://was-ct.org/donate/
#GivingTuesday #WestportObservatory #WAS #SupportScience #CommunityScience #Astronomy

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

Astronomers may have just caught the first direct hint of dark matter. A new study says gamma rays near the Milky Way’s center—seen by NASA’s Fermi spacecraft—match what you’d expect from colliding WIMPs, those long-proposed dark matter particles. Not everyone’s convinced yet, since other galaxies don’t show the same signal, but if it holds, it’s huge. Full story: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/nov/25/study-claims-to-provide-first-direct-evidence-of-dark-matter
#DarkMatter #Astronomy #MilkyWay #SpaceScience #WAS #WestportObservatory #NASA #Fermi

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

Clear, cold skies tonight — perfect for cracking open the dome at the Westport Observatory! With no Moon to wash things out, it’s a Deep Sky night: nebulae, galaxies, and all the cosmic goodies.

Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus kick off the evening, and Jupiter rises in the east a bit later to take a bow.

We open the dome at 8!
https://was-ct.org/programs/public-viewing/

#WestportObservatory #WestportAstronomicalSociety #Astronomy #DeepSky #Nebula #Galaxy #PublicViewing #Stargazing #Jupiter #Saturn #Uranus #Neptune

Tonight’s the night! 🚀
MIT’s Professor Sara Seager joins us for “From Lab to Cosmos: Three Frontiers in the Search for Signs of Life Beyond Earth.”

She’ll present live online while we host the full event in person at the Westport Observatory, plus stream it on YouTube and Zoom. Can’t make it? Catch the replay on our YouTube channel.

See you in the classroom at 8 PM!
https://was-ct.org/events/sara-seager-2025/

#SaraSeager #MIT #Astrobiology #Exoplanets #WestportAstronomicalSociety #WestportObservatory #SETI

Heads Up, Skywatchers!

The Leonid meteor shower peaks early Monday morning—and there’s no moonlight to spoil the view. Grab a warm coat, kick back in a lawn chair, and keep your eyes on the sky. You could catch up to 12 meteors an hour.

And don’t forget: the Taurids are still hanging around. They’re few and far between, but every now and then… BOOM—a brilliant fireball. More details here: https://www.astronomy.com/observing/the-leonid-meteor-shower-peaks-sunday-night/

#Leonids #Taurids #MeteorShower #Astronomy #WestportObservatory #WAS

The Lemmon in the Sky, Wild Aurora & More!

The November Field of View newsletter is live! This month: Comet Lemmon blazing through the sky, coast-to-coast auroras, jaw-dropping photos from our members and friends, and much more from the Westport Astronomical Society.

Check it out 👉 https://mailchi.mp/was-ct/fov_november-2025

#Aurora #CometLemmon #Astronomy #WestportCT #WestportObservatory #WestportAstronomicalSociety #SpaceWeather #NightSky #StrayPhotons #Astrophotography #Astrodon

Clouds win again. ☁️ The Westport Observatory will be closed tonight for viewing — and of course, it had to happen on another night with a chance of aurora.

Fingers crossed the skies clear soon so we can get back under the stars. http://www.was-ct.org/

#WestportObservatory #Aurora #Stargazing #SpaceWeather #WestportAstronomicalSociety

What an epic night of aurora across the world — and right here in New England! 🌌 Earth just got hit by two back-to-back CMEs, lighting up the sky with one of the strongest Northern Lights displays in years.

Here are a few incredible shots from our members, reporting in from Arizona, Long Island, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.

#Aurora #NorthernLights #SolarStorm #SpaceWeather #WestportObservatory #WAS #AuroraBorealis

VERY Limited Supplies!

The 2026 Westport Astronomical Society 13-Month Calendar is here — stunning astrophotography from Michael Southam, Franco Fellah, Stuart Stakoff, Kurt Zeppetello, Zane Landers, Dana Weisbrot, Michael Telesco, Carl Lancaster, Phil Harrington, Louis Tancredi, Dr. Steven Labkoff & Shannon Calvert.

Includes exclusive images + daily data from Phil Harrington.

was-ct.org/calendar-purchase

#WestportAstronomicalSociety #Astronomy #Astrophotography #Calendar #WestportObservatory

🌕💥 The Moon Takes a Hit—Twice!
Last week, two asteroids struck the Moon just days apart, each impact captured by Japanese astronomer Daichi Fujii. The flashes, bright enough to be seen from Earth, came from space rocks slamming into the lunar surface at 60,000 mph—proof our “quiet” Moon is constantly bombarded. Scientists use these events to track asteroid activity and refine planetary defense models.
🔗https://tinyurl.com/2bjqagjz
#Moon #Asteroids #Space #Astronomy #WestportObservatory #Science