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.
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Skyward – October
One clear evening during the summer of 2019, I was using Pegasus, one of my childhood friend Carl’s telescopes, at our annual Adirondack Astronomy Retreat. When my cellphone began to ring, I picked it up with some surprise. At the other end of the line was Carolyn Shoemaker.
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Astro Update – September
Carolyn Shoemaker, discoverer of dozens of comets and hundreds of asteroids, has died at age 92. Many of her discoveries were shared with her husband Gene Shoemaker, who for many years headed a project to search for near-Earth objects using the small Palomar Schmidt camera.
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Skyward – September
During the last almost two years I have been busier than ever, meeting many new people, giving lectures, quoting poetry, and advocating observing the night sky. And Wendee and I have barely left home.
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Astro Update – August
The Hubble Space Telescope shut down all observations on June 13 because of a failure in its payload computer, which controls all its onboard instruments. On the ground, operators switched the telescope to use the backup payload computer, but that didn’t fix the issue.
Chamberlin Observatory Tours
The Denver Astronomical Society hosts weekly and monthly events* at the University of Denver’s historic Chamberlin Observatory, featuring its prized 1894 Alvan Clark-Saegmuller 20-inch refracting telescope. It serves as the DAS home base for numerous Public Nights, Open Houses, and special events throughout the year.
Due to overwhelming demand, we are changing how we reserve our Public Nights and adding more to the calendar. We are sold out into mid-2025 and will not open any more slots until we can revamp our reservation system and get our new teams in place. We are committed to providing you with the best experience, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please watch for announcements on our Facebook page and our DAS News page.
If you have any questions about EXISTING reservations or would like to make changes to make changes to your reservation, email us at reservations@denverastro.org.
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? Ever wonder if you can take similar images? Maybe you 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.
