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Spend Spring Break with Us!

McDonald Observatory is a popular destination for Spring Breakers across the country. To serve as many visitors as possible, we will offer an altered schedule of modified programming from March 8-22. This includes extra Star Parties. As a reminder, we are closed to the public on Sundays and Mondays. We recommend buying your tickets in advance - they often sell out!

New Energy Industry Guidelines Help Protect Night Sky

Protecting the night sky is a collaborative endeavor - one The University of Texas at Austin’s McDonald Observatory has helped lead in West Texas since the launch of its Dark Skies Initiative in 2010. Now, oil and gas facilities in nearby New Mexico are joining the effort, with help from a new set of lighting guidelines tailored to their industry.

Newfound Galaxy Class May Indicate Early Black Hole Growth

In December 2022, the JWST revealed something never seen before: numerous red objects that appear small on the sky, which scientists soon called “little red dots” (LRDs). Though quite abundant, researchers are perplexed by their nature and what they convey about the early universe. A team of astronomers, including several from UT Austin, recently compiled one of the largest samples of LRDs to date and found that a large fraction showed signs of containing growing supermassive black holes. 

Astronomers Discover Youngest Transiting Planet Ever

On November 20, astronomers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and The University of Texas at Austin announced the discovery of the youngest planet ever found using the transit method. With this method, a planet is detected when it passes between its host star and the observer. The planet, named TIDYE-1b, is roughly the size of Jupiter and is an estimated 3 million years old. To put that age into perspective: If Earth were a 50-year-old person, TIDYE-1b would be a 2-week-old infant.

Northwestern University Joins Giant Magellan Telescope International Consortium

The University of Texas at Austin joined the Giant Magellan Telescope today in announcing that Northwestern University has joined its international consortium to construct the $2.54 billion observatory.