We had a fantastic year at Great Basin Observatory. 2025 Stats Binary Stars Research Papers: 22 Exoplanet Studies: 42 Asteroid Studies: 58 Checkout the 2025 student research papers at: science.greatbasinobservatory.org/pre-print-su...

Last week I was out at the observatory upgrading our imaging system. We installed an ASI 6200mm and modified the filter wheel. We now have BVR and GRIZ filters so I took this shot of the Cocoon nebula with the Sloan filters for fun! #astronomy 🔭 We'll get back to exoplanet work soon...

Just back from a 5 night speckle observation run at Mt. Wilson. We used the Hale 60" telescope for our data collection, but did get a chance to visit the 100" Hooker telescope. If you're interested in attending our next speckle run, please let me know. I will be leading the event. #astronomy 🔭

I am pleased to report that one of my Binary Star Class students had her paper published last week. In all 11 students submitted their work from the class to JDSO. Astrometric Observations of WDS 12084+1403 Using the Great Basin Observatory #astronomy 🔭 doublestarsjournal.org/index.php/jd...

It's a fascinating story! earthsky.org/space/new-in...

Sunrise at Great Basin Observatory June 28 2025. At my happy place at 7000 feet. Here comes the sun! #astronomy 🔭

Just started data gathering on T CrB and later tonight a special project from 1-4AM on MG1-1995959. We're back in the light at GBO. science.greatbasinobservatory.org #astronomy 🔭

The world is, the world is Love and life are deep Maybe as his eyes are wide...

Pinwheel Galaxy Askar V - ASI 533 MMC - 300 one minute images processed with APP. #astronomy 🔭

M13 Globular Cluster Tis the season... Sloan G - 30 seconds - Edge HD 9.25 - ASI 533mm #astronomy 🔭

Wrapped up AIJ processing and data submission last night for HAT P 68b. The GBO team bags another exoplanet transit. Data submitted to AAVSO see observer codes HJEB / GJEI for details. Ad Astra! #astronomy 🔭

Snowed this morning at Great Basin Observatory. Glad I canceled last nights observations. #astronomy 🔭

Had a good night on T CrB. Still kinda quiet averaging 9.3 magnitude in SR over 2 hour series last night. Shot taken at Great Basin Observatory. Data submitted to AAVSO see observer code HJEB for details. Ad Astra! #astronomy 🔭

HAT P - 68b detection, a light curve image showing reference star measurements and the target star curve dipping as a planet moves in front of it. What pleases me most is that this was taken last night at GBO as the moon rose and transited. #astronomy 🔭

Hot off the press. Binary star pair AG 312. Position Angle 295.21 degrees, separation of 45.25 arc seconds tonight. First measured in 1903 at 293/48.6" Hmm... Are they dancing or is it common proper motion? I guess we wait a few hundred more years to find out... #astronomy 🔭

Back to work at GBO tonight. Targeting 8 Binary stars, 1 Exoplanet, and picking up T Crb at 2:30am till dawn. All Sloan, All Night. This is my happy place.... #astronomy 🔭 #CDK-700

Fair winds and following seas, may forever you feel, upon your cheek, the salty breeze. Your spirit lives on in many a heart, your words captured, and never to depart. A fellow submariner, brother of the phin, a good man who cared for all of us. Ad Astra Jimmy!

Wishing my fellow astronomers clear skies tonight. Ad Astra! #astronomy 🔭

Checkout this fascinating paper on Wolf Rayett binaries. This is a "must read" by Ryan M.T. White, and Peter Tuthill. Two of the Bluesky humans that makes this place so damn cool! Saving this one for coffee in the morning. #astronomy 🔭 The reference section of this paper is amazing!

Solstice is happening, shortest day of the year is upon us. As an astronomer I am sad that I will be losing the night, bit by bit as we move into summer. I did take advantage of the dark last night and gathered data on HD5501, AH Leonis and AD Leonis. #astronomy 🔭

HD 5501 is an eclipsing binary in Leo. The data in the chart shows the change in magnitude over two nights. This binary has a period of 7.53 days with a primary eclipse of 0.45 magnitude. Data collected at Great Basin Observatory. #astronomy 🔭

I love astronomy because it leads you to so many other areas of science. DAWN visited Ceres years ago, and its data is still being studied. Here is a fascinating study about organics on its surface. Now I have to learn what Aliphatic Organics are all about!! #astronomy 🔭

A map of the structure surrounding the Local Void In this map our Milky Way galaxy lies at the origin of the red-green-blue orientation arrows, each 200 million lightyears in length. ☑️ this is Fig.1 of ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2019ApJ.... 🧪 ☑️ more insights by APOD: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap19080... 🔭

Nautical Twilight at Great Basin Observatory. First night in several weeks with everything working and clear skies. Tonight we focus on two flare stars, MG-1995959 and later this evening AE Leonis until morning. #astronomy 🔭 Ad Astra!

First light with the Whoopshel Spectrometer at GBO. This is the spectrum of the star Vega. We will use this tool to detect the chemistry of exoplanet atmospheres. Imagine detecting chemical signatures of life in a faraway planet! #astronomy 🔭

A big part of running an observatory is filling time between partner requests with observations of interest for later analysis. So time to analyze rise and set times for mag 10+ flare stars. V1005 Orionis - I'm Looking at you! #astronomy 🔭 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V1005_O...

Asteroid - 2001 BD 57 is a member of the Main Belt belt which is located between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. At the time I captured it in August its magnitude was 17.5 and was fully illuminated Captured at Great Basin Observatory with a CDK 700. Processed in Astroimage J. #astronomy 🔭

Asteroid 1998 QS52 - 1998 QS52 is a member of the Apollo group which are Earth-crossing asteroids. At the time I captured it in October its magnitude was 18.5 Captured at Great Basin Observatory with a CDK 700. Processed in Astroimage J. #astronomy 🔭

Silent stone glides close, Earth's shadow brushes its path— Cosmic dance unfolds. Finally a clear night, albeit a bright one. Seeing is poor, so it's a great night to hunt rocks. First up to the plate tonight is 2024 UY3 Orbit View: ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/sbdb_l... #astronomy 🔭

Updated periodic table with origin of elements in the Solar System (for boron and lithium at least)

Fall nears its end in my area when the last rose of the season fully blooms in my garden. 🌱

Found this online and I wish I knew enough mathematics to understand all of these equations. Of course I don't, so I have decided to dedicate 2025 to researching this list. I may never grok them all, but at least I will learn about the people who created them. Wish me luck! #science #math

My favorite star.

At the center of this image lies WDS 01052+6105 STI, a suspected double star pair that will be measured by a student in class tomorrow. First measured in 1901 PA=152 and SEP = 11.2 it was last observed in 2015. There are more than 20 double star pairs in this image. #astronomy 🔭 #astrometry

expect the expected! new paper from our team on the arxiv today: our observations of the directly imaged planet AF Lep b with optical interferometry. we revise the planet's orbit and composition; both indicate unbothered formation within a disk via core accretion. arxiv.org/abs/2411.05917

On October 10th the northern lights reached my latitude just north of Sacramento. I have a small backyard observatory where I run an all sky camera. This video shows a reddish high atmospheric glow, and then strong fire like aurora activity over the open roof facing North. #astronomy #aurora 🔭

The Flame Nebula. Part of the Orion nebula, the dark clouds are baryonic material blocking gas reflected light of Alnitak. This is a proto-planetary region 1000 ly distant. In my next life I will visit the flame and explore its worlds. GRI Sloan filters - 2600mm - F10 Ad Astra! #astronomy 🔭

M77 15 minutes in RGB from a CDK700 and STX-16803. #astronomy 🔭

If you make sure you're connected The writing's on the wall But if your mind's neglected Stumble you might fall -Stereo MC @bot.astronomy.blue signup

This was taken last night from 2460623.75846 to 2460623.85116 Processed with ASTAP. 60 - 120 second images, 2x2 binned, V filter, 4565mm Fl, F6.5 Are these fluctuations typical? #LMXB #EVLAC #astronomy 🔭

Are you interested in working with a great team? Would you like to learn how to process light curves, perform differential photometry, measure the orbits of binary stars, track asteroids, or gather spectral data with a Whoppshel? Volunteers needed for deep space work. Let's connect. #astronomy 🔭

Osiris Rex sample return has landed. The black pebbles and dirt collected on Bennu, are older than Earth, and are undisturbed remnants of the solar system's early days of planet formation. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSIRIS-...

WOW. JWST just keeps raising the bar! This high resolution, near-infrared look at Herbig-Haro 211 reveals exquisite detail of the outflow of a young star, an infantile analogue of our sun. (Image credit: ESA/Webb, NASA, CSA, Tom Ray (Dublin)) webb.nasa.gov #astronomy 🔭

IC 5146 - Cocoon Nebula - Shot last night capturing 2 hours of photons in LRGB using a 600mm Askar V. Located in Cygnus 4000ly away, and is 15ly wide. This is a star forming region with some stars 14 times the size of our sun. Ad Astra! #astronomy 🔭

I woke at 4am, drove to an open area, and tried to shoot this comet last week. Sadly, it was a no go. But others did achieve this goal! A breathtaking image of the increasingly popular comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura). By © Gerald Rhemann

NGC 6914 - Shot last night so not enough data just yet, might be a bit over processed but it shows promise with a few more hours of data gathering. Next 4 nights are clear here, so going to go deep on this one. #astronomy 🔭

This time of year is the best for consecutive nights of clear dark skies. This section is in the western left quadrant of the veil nebula 2400ly away in Cygnus. The source was a star 20x more massive than the Sun which exploded between 10,000 and 20,000 years ago. So colorful! #astronomy 🔭

Great night, ending this morning with Messier 56, a globular cluster in the constellation Lyra. 15 shots of LRGB frames combined, 1 hour total exposure. M56 is about 32,900 light-years away from Earth and measures roughly 84 light-years across, containing 230,000+ stars. #astronomy 🔭

"They're made out of meat."   "Meat?" "Meat. They're made out of meat."   "Meat?" "There's no doubt about it. We picked several from different parts of the planet... By Terry Bisson 1991 www.youtube.com/watch?v=woqy... Just for fun... #astronomy 🔭 #alien

You don't see this everyday!