"An hourglass shaped cloud of material burst out from the bright center, with the orange, semi-opaque gas cloud on top and orange fading to a bright blue semi-opaque gas cloud on the bottom, all against a black sky speckled with white spots."

Visual Astronomy Display: December 2022

Highlights: See the new Webb images of a “fiery hourglass” protostar; Learn why we might need to change the duration of a “second”; Fermilab reviews the history of physicists calculating the speed of gravity; SciShow breaks down why some astronomers “listen” to space; PBS Space Time asks: what if humanity is among the first spacefaring …

Wolbach Library Fair

Inspired by the magic of Scholastic Book Fairs, the Wolbach Library invites the CFA community to participate in the first ever Wolbach Library Fair on December 6th, 2022, from 1-4PM. The Fair will connect you with library resources and initiatives while showcasing our archival collections and giving you the chance to win a few books …

December Star Notes Update

Hello everyone, This is Sydney and Nico, Star Notes and Project PHaEDRA researchers. We hope you are all doing well in preparing for the winter! As always, thank you for remaining interested in our work and for volunteering your time to help with our research! We appreciate your effort to learn about the history of …

Layers of semi-opaque red colored gas and dust, bottom left, with three prominent pillars rise toward the top right. The left pillar is the largest and widest, the second and third pillars are set off in darker shades of brown and have red outlines.

Visual Astronomy Display: November 2022

Highlights… See the new Webb images of the “Pillars of Creation”; How to see the Blood Moon lunar eclipse on November 8th; Watch a timelapse of Rome’s partial solar eclipse; Learn the history behind the camera used during the Apollo 11 mission; Cool Worlds asks: what if we could extend the lifespan of stars? Playlist …

November Star Notes Update

Hello everyone, This is Sydney and Nico, Star Notes and Project PHaEDRA researchers. We hope you are all doing well, and enjoying the autumn! As always, thank you for remaining interested in our work and for volunteering your time to help with our research! We appreciate your effort to learn about the history of women …

October Star Notes Update

Hello everyone, This is Sydney and Nico, Star Notes and Project PHaEDRA researchers. We hope you are all doing well, and enjoying the autumn! As always, thank you for remaining interested in our work and for volunteering your time to help with our research! We appreciate your effort to learn about the history of women …

Swirling reds, whites, and light yellows mix around in front of a starry sky.

Visual Astronomy Display: October 2022

Highlights… Highlights…See the Tarantula Nebula views captured by the JWST; Learn how observations of lunar eclipses helped ancient astronomers; Star Wars’ X-wing soon to be on display at National Air and Space Museum; PBS SpaceTime breaks down the mysteries of the Fine Structure Constant; Minute Physics discusses: what if Pluto was entirely made of plutonium?\ …

Jupiter dominates the black background of space. The planet is striated with swirling horizontal stripes of neon turquoise, periwinkle, light pink, and cream. The stripes interact and mix at their edges like cream in coffee. Along both of the poles, the planet glows in turquoise. Bright orange auroras glow just above the planet’s surface at both poles.

Visual Astronomy Display: September 2022

Highlights… Sky watching tips for September; Atomic clocks have recorded the fastest-ever day on Earth; Watch lightning strike near the Artemis I moon rocket; See Jupiter’s rings in new images from the JWST; PBS SpaceTime asks: what If dark energy is a new quantum field? Extras: Read NASA’s graphic novel The First Woman,the fictional tale …

A logbook page with a star diagram labeled "field for faint comparison stars" for Nova Cygni 1948, from J.R.G.'s notebook titled "Variable Measures" from 1950. (image: phaedra2558)

September Star Notes Update

Hello everyone, This is Sydney and Nico, Star Notes and Project PHaEDRA researchers. We hope you are all doing well, and enjoying the beginning of fall! As always, thank you for remaining interested in our work and for volunteering your time to help with our research! We appreciate your effort to learn about the history …

2022 image taken by the JSWT. Three galaxies cluster in the middle of the picture. A smaller galaxy sits below them. All of the galaxies are surrounded by a black void dotted with stars of various sizes and colors.

Visual Astronomy Display: August 2022

Highlights… SciShow reviews the first JWST images; Learn the history of Virginia Norwood and the development of the first space-based multispectral scanner; Watch China’s Wentian lab dock with the Tiangong space station; PBS SpaceTime explains how we define states of matter; Cool Worlds asks: “Can Moons Have Moons?” Playlist Archive Suggestions, Comments, or Questions