McDonald Observatory

McDonald Observatory, a research unit of The University of Texas at Austin, is one of the world's leading centers for astronomical research, teaching, and public education and outreach. Observatory facilities are located atop Mount Locke and Mount Fowlkes in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, which offer some of the darkest night skies in the continental United States.

Resources

Astronomers and Observatories

Publicly Accessible Telescope Viewing

Radio Programs

Changing Seasons Changing seasons on a cold world Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Cloudy Skies Cloudy skies on a cold moon Monday, November 10, 2014

Different Explosions Exploding stars with a difference Saturday, July 19, 2014

Zombie Stars The night of the living dead stars Thursday, July 17, 2014

McDonald at 75, V Studying the mysteries of the universe Friday, May 9, 2014

McDonald at 75, IV Probing the mysteries of the stars Thursday, May 8, 2014

McDonald at 75, III Collaboration in the name of science Wednesday, May 7, 2014

McDonald at 75, II Lawsuits, recruitment, and stars Tuesday, May 6, 2014

McDonald at 75 The start of a scientific adventure Monday, May 5, 2014

Distant Planets IV Young planets on the move Thursday, May 1, 2014

Distant Planets III A giant planet near the head of the water snake Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Distant Planets II A patient search for distant planets Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Distant Planets Looking for hard-to-find planets Monday, April 28, 2014

Pollux A “wobbly” planetary discovery Sunday, March 2, 2014

Z Machine IV Astronomy in a test tube Thursday, February 6, 2014

Z Machine III Making a star in a bottle Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Getting Started Cooking up a piece of glass Tuesday, December 31, 2013

HETDEX Update An upgrade for dark energy Monday, November 4, 2013

A New Start An observatory gets a new start Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Changing Directions A change of direction for McDonald Observatory Monday, September 2, 2013

Solar Twins II Hunting for worlds like Earth Sunday, June 2, 2013

Keeping Tabs Keeping an eye on a fuzzy foot Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Recalibrating Recalibrating a space telescope Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Small Black Holes Looking for tiny black holes Monday, February 25, 2013

First Steps Angling in on the stars Wednesday, December 5, 2012

RR Lyrae The rhythmic beat of a star Tuesday, December 4, 2012

‘Titanic’ Discoveries A big moon keeps its secrets Monday, November 19, 2012

Gamma Cephei IV Getting messy for science Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Gamma Cephei III Keeping a planet on the table Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Gamma Cephei II A gnat’s eyelash and a distant planet Monday, September 3, 2012

Giant Magellan Telescope A new “giant” eye on the universe Monday, May 14, 2012

Humid Skies Measuring the humidity on a cold world Saturday, May 5, 2012

Star in a Bottle Making a bottleful of starstuff Friday, April 13, 2012

White Dwarf Quakes Stars that “quake” in the night Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Record Breaker An unprecedented sphere of darkness Monday, February 6, 2012

Early Start Getting an astronomical head start Monday, September 12, 2011

Kepler III Two ways to find planets Saturday, August 27, 2011

Kepler II Winnowing a list of possible planets Friday, August 26, 2011

Kepler I Watching for some stars to blink Thursday, August 25, 2011

Van Biesbroeck's Star Hunting up a faint cosmic bulb Saturday, July 16, 2011

Cosmic Inflation IV Fast expansion in past and future Saturday, June 18, 2011

Cosmic Inflation III Universes without end Friday, June 17, 2011

Cosmic Inflation II A "lumpy" recipe for the universe Thursday, June 16, 2011

Cosmic Inflation Giving the universe a big push Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Telescope Facelift II Keeping a giant telescope on track Friday, June 3, 2011

Telescope Facelift A facelift in the name of science Thursday, June 2, 2011

Planet Search Searching for faint wobbling planets Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Red Dwarf Planets Looking for close planets around close stars Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Clean Mirrors Keeping a clear view of the heavens Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Basket O' Planets A basketful of planets Thursday, April 21, 2011

M87 Black Hole Looking for a hidden giant Thursday, March 10, 2011

Upsilon Andromedae An out-of-whack solar system Wednesday, February 9, 2011

HETDEX "Fingerprinting" dark energy Friday, October 15, 2010

Dark Energy II Searching for the missing universe Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Dark Matter Particle Big, heavy, but hard to find Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Uranus III Heating up a planet's atmosphere Thursday, June 3, 2010

Lasers IV Inching away from the Moon Thursday, May 20, 2010

Featured Images

First Director Thursday, May 8, 2014

Celebrating Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Getting Started Monday, May 5, 2014

Going Farther Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Planet Hunting Monday, April 28, 2014

Who's Who Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Zapped! Monday, February 3, 2014

Seeing the Light Tuesday, December 31, 2013

On (and Off) Track Monday, November 4, 2013

Stellar Geometry Tuesday, September 4, 2012

3D Horsehead Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Facelift for Science Friday, June 3, 2011

A Big Bottle of Windex? Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Jolly Green Comet Thursday, October 21, 2010

Searching the Darkness Friday, October 15, 2010