Category Archives: Science

Stargazing at Mittelman Observatory – Autumn 2022

Mittelman Observatory will again host stargazing open house nights this autumn. These Observatory events are scheduled for Friday evenings, September 16, October 7, and October 28, from 8:30 PM until 10:00 PM, weather permitting.

Jupiter and Saturn will be in the evening sky on these dates. A variety of interesting stars, star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies will be visible through the Observatory’s telescopes. The Observatory includes a 24-inch telescope in a dome and smaller telescopes on the roof deck.

Due to COVID-19 policies and best practices, not all telescopes may be open and masks may be required of attendees.

Observatory open house nights are free and open to the public. However, these events will take place only if the sky is expected to be mostly clear. Please check the Observatory web site at go/observatory or call the Observatory at 443-2266 after 6:30 PM on the evening of the event for weather status.

Additional shorter-notice weather-optimized events may also be scheduled periodically and announced through our Observatory-News e-mail list, to which one can subscribe at go/observatory-news.

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series

Mittelman Observatory is happy to announce the next edition of the Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series. This aperiodic series presents astronomy and astronomy-related talks that will often be broad and interdisciplinary in nature.

The next talk will be given virtually by astronomer Hugh Crowl on Tuesday, July 12, from 7pm to 8:30pm. Dr. Crowl’s talk is entitled “How Do Galaxies Lose Their Gas? Galaxy Transformation in the Virgo Cluster”. He is a member of the faculty in Physics and Astronomy at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont.

This talk is presented in collaboration with the Southern Vermont Astronomy Group and the Dublin School.

More talk details can be found at go/astrotalks.

And, please note that registration is required for this free webinar at go/astrotalk.

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series announcements, as well as aperiodic stargazing event notices, will routinely happen through the Observatory News mailing list at go/observatorynews.

Stargazing at Mittelman Observatory – Summer 2022

Mittelman Observatory will again host stargazing open house nights this summer. These Observatory events are scheduled for Wednesday evenings, June 29, July 20, July 27, and August 3, from 9:30 PM until 11:00 PM, weather permitting.

Saturn will be in the evening sky on some of these dates. A variety of interesting stars, star clusters, and nebulae will be visible through the Observatory’s telescopes. The Observatory includes a 24-inch telescope in a dome and smaller telescopes on the roof deck.

Due to COVID-19 policies and best practices, not all telescopes may be open and masks may be required of attendees.

Observatory open house nights are free and open to the public. As these are minimal language events, they are also appropriate for Language Schools students. Some Observatory staff may also speak select languages offered as part of Language Schools. These events will take place only if the sky is expected to be mostly clear. Please check the Observatory web site at go/observatory or call the Observatory at 443-2266 after 7:30 PM on the evening of the event for weather status.

Additional shorter-notice weather-optimized events may also be scheduled periodically and announced through our Observatory-News e-mail list, to which one can subscribe at go/observatory-news.

MiddLab Data Workshops – Summer 2022 Series

We are happy to announce the summer 2022 series of our MiddLab Data Workshops! Our workshops are discipline-inclusive and are open to students, faculty, and staff across the institution, from the sciences to the humanities and beyond.

  • Organizing and Managing Research Data
  • Resource and Citation Management with Zotero
  • Designing Better Data Visualizations
  • Introduction to R and R Studio
  • Data Wrangling in R with dplyr and tidyr
  • Creating High Quality Graphics in R with ggplot2
  • Introduction to Text Mining in R
  • Introduction to Geospatial Data in R
  • The Terminal and the Command Line (parts I & II)
  • Python (parts I & II)
  • Linux at Middlebury
  • High-Performance Computing and Slurm at Middlebury

To learn more about the individual workshops and to register, please visit:

Because of space constraints and geographic inclusion, we will be holding this year’s workshops virtually via Zoom. Zotero workshops will have a limited number of in-person seats.

MiddLab

Lunar Eclipse at Mittelman Obseravtory – 15 May 2022

Mittelman Observatory will host a special total lunar eclipse open house night, weather permitting. This Observatory event is scheduled for Sunday evening, May 15, from 10:00 PM until 12:00 AM, weather permitting.

Viewing of the lunar eclipse will happen from the roof deck with smaller telescopes as well as with the unaided eye. Please note that for this event, the larger 24-inch telescope in the dome will not be available. The lunar eclipse is best appreciated with the larger field of view of a smaller telescope or without any telescope at all.

Due to COVID-19 policies and best practices, not all telescopes will be open and masks will be required of attendees.

Observatory open house nights are free and open to the public. However, these events will take place only if the sky is expected to be mostly clear. Please check the Observatory web site at go/observatory or call the Observatory at 443-2266 after 8:00 PM on the evening of the event for weather status.

Additional shorter-notice weather-optimized events may also be scheduled periodically and announced through our Observatory-News e-mail list, to which one can subscribe at go/observatory-news.

Stargazing at Mittelman Observatory – Spring 2022

View from balcony with two telescopes, looking towards forested mountains with the sun low in the sky.

Mittelman Observatory will again host stargazing open house nights this spring. These Observatory events are scheduled for Friday evenings, April 22 and May 13, from 9:00 PM until 10:30 PM, weather permitting.

Image of observatory building, with three telescopes set up in foreground.

A variety of interesting stars, star clusters, and nebulae will be visible through the Observatory’s telescopes. The Observatory includes a 24-inch telescope in a dome and smaller telescopes on the roof deck.

Due to COVID-19 policies and best practices, not all telescopes will be open and masks will be required of attendees.

Observatory open house nights are free and open to the public. However, these events will take place only if the sky is expected to be mostly clear. Please check the Observatory web site at go/observatory or call the Observatory at 443-2266 after 7:00 PM on the evening of the event for weather status.

Ariel view of Mittelman observatory building, with farmland and mountains in the background.

Additional shorter-notice weather-optimized events may also be scheduled periodically and announced through our Observatory-News e-mail list, to which one can subscribe at go/observatory-news.

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series

Mittelman Observatory is happy to announce the next edition of the Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series. This aperiodic series will involve occasional astronomy and astronomy-related talks that will often be broad and interdisciplinary in nature.

The next talk will be given virtually by planetary astronomer Amanda Bosh on Tuesday, June 8, from 7pm to 8:30pm. Dr. Bosh’s talk is entitled “What the Outer Edges of Our Solar System Tell Us About Its Beginnings”. She is Observatory Operations Manager at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona.

This talk is presented in collaboration with the Southern Vermont Astronomy Group and the Dublin School.

More talk details can be found at go/astrotalks.

And, please note that registration is required for this free webinar at go/astrotalk.

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series announcements, as well as aperiodic live virtual stargazing event notices, will routinely happen through the Observatory News mailing list at go/observatorynews.

Mittelman Observatory. Because the sky is always open!

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series

Mittelman Observatory is happy to announce the next edition of the Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series. This aperiodic series will involve occasional astronomy and astronomy-related talks that will often be broad and interdisciplinary in nature.

The next talk will be given virtually by planetary astronomer Richard French on Tuesday, January 12, from 7pm to 8:30pm. Dr. French’s talk is entitled “The Cassini Mission to Saturn: An Insider’s View of an International Journey of Discovery”. He is McDowell/Whiting Professor of Astrophysics and Professor of Astronomy at Wellesley College.

This talk is presented in collaboration with the Southern Vermont Astronomy Group and the Dublin School.

More talk details can be found at go/astrotalks.

And, please note that registration is required for this free webinar at go/astrotalk.

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series announcements, as well as aperiodic live virtual stargazing event notices, will routinely happen through the Observatory News mailing list at go/observatorynews.

Mittelman Observatory. Because the sky is always open!

Majarra – Exoplanets and Ethnoastronomy

Mittelman Observatory is proud to announce the opening of the exhibit “Majarra: Exoplanets & Ethnoastronomy” by Eva Bod ’20. Please visit go/majarra.

This exhibit features original art that explores both the new frontier of exoplanet discovery and ethnoastronomical stories of the sky — examining, visualizing, and contextualizing both modern cutting-edge discoveries of new worlds as well as diverse historical and cultural cosmological views of the Universe.

The art project that serves as the foundation for this exhibit has been two years in the making. Creator Eva Bod ’20 was an artist in residence at the Observatory and graduated with a major in Sociology and Anthropology. Eva pursued numerous interdisciplinary opportunities that bridged the humanities and the sciences while at Middlebury.

The online exhibit can now be enjoyed at the link above. The physical exhibit will be opening soon.

Mittelman Observatory. Because the sky is always open!

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series

Mittelman Observatory is happy to announce the next edition of the Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series. This aperiodic series will involve occasional astronomy and astronomy-related talks that will often be broad and interdisciplinary in nature.

The next talk will be given virtually by space physicist Edgar Bering (P’13) on Monday, November 9, from 7pm to 8:30pm. Dr. Bering’s talk is entitled “Balloons on Ice: Studying the Aurora in Antarctica”. He is Professor of Physics and Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Houston.

More talk details can be found at go/astrotalks.

And, please note that registration is required for this free webinar at go/astrotalk.

Mittelman Astronomy Lecture Series announcements, as well as aperiodic live virtual stargazing event notices, will routinely happen through the Observatory News mailing list at go/observatorynews.

Mittelman Observatory. Because the sky is always open!