In the Sky
A Total Lunar Eclipse Awes
It has been a little while since Nashville has had the opportunity to view the splendor of a total lunar eclipse, nearly three years in fact. During brief gaps in cloud cover last September, we saw a lovely partial lunar eclipse during which a portion of the Moon slipped through the dark inner shadow of […]
Mar 21, 2025
Mars Has Been Busy!
January ended up being a big month for the Red Planet as it took part in a parade, gave us all it had during opposition, and even tangoed with the Moon. Mars on Parade Mars, shining like an orange beacon in the eastern evening sky, was one of the prime spectacles of the much-anticipated […]
Feb 11, 2025
The Sword of Orion
One of the most well known and easily identifiable constellations is Orion. According to one of the stories of Greek mythology, Orion was a supernatural hunter who threatened to kill every creature on Earth. Angered by this, the Earth goddess Gaia sent a scorpion to slay the boastful Orion. Appearing in the sky at […]
Jan 13, 2025
A Winter Planet Parade
This January and a good part of February, we have an opportunity to see six planets in the evening sky. For the most part, you will just need your eyes, a clear western horizon, and a cloudless sky. To take full advantage of this “planet parade,” you will want to grab a pair of binoculars […]
Jan 13, 2025
How to Buy a Telescope
Here are a few tips Dr. Billy Teets shares with anyone interested in getting a telescope: We often refer folks to Dobsonian telescopes as they give you the most light-gathering bang for your buck. These telescopes are more suited for visual observing rather than photography, but one can still get really nice images of the […]
Dec 6, 2024
A Not-So-Lonely Star
A mere six light-years from Earth lies a small star invisible to the unaided eye. Classified as a red dwarf due to its small size and cooler temperature, it along with its fellow red dwarfs are the most common type of star, making up more than three quarters of all the stars in our local […]
Dec 6, 2024
A Dirty Snowball Delighted
Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) put on quite an evening show for us starting the second week of October. The comet, which some billed as possibly being a “comet of the century” due to its anticipated brightness, came in between the Earth and the Sun on October 9th. A few days later, it had moved far […]
Nov 6, 2024
We Have Reached Solar Maximum
Recently, NASA and NOAA announced that the Sun has officially reached solar maximum, but what does that mean? The Sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity in which we see all types of solar phenomena (sunspots, flares, prominences, eruptions) reach a maximum level of activity, dwindle to a minimum level about 5-6 years later, […]
Oct 15, 2024
Catch the October 9, 2024, Lunar X
“Lunar X” is a visual phenomenon where an X appears on the Moon’s surface. What one actually sees is the contrast between the dark interiors of the Blanchinus, La Caille and Purbach craters against their bright rims. This event is typically fleeting, for the crater walls remain in shadow for just a short while as […]
Oct 1, 2024
A Bright Comet Is Putting on a Show
For skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere, it often seems that spectacular comets only make their appearances in Southern Hemisphere skies. It looks like those of us in at northern latitudes are now getting our turn. Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) has rapidly brightened in the morning sky, so much so that it has become visible to […]
Sep 29, 2024
The Partial Lunar Eclipse of September 17, 2024
Despite their best attempts, the clouds over Nashville and much of Tennessee weren’t able to completely obscure the partial lunar eclipse of September 17, 2024, for some. The featured image was obtained by Dyer Observatory director Dr. Billy Teets using a portable telescope setup to capture the eclipse while still in the penumbral phase. The […]
Sep 29, 2024
September is a Busy Month for the Moon
The middle of September turns out to be a busy time for our Moon in 2024. This month, skywatchers will have an opportunity to view a partial lunar eclipse and two lunar occultations. Not only will clear skies be needed but location will also play a big role as to who can witness these events. […]
Sep 16, 2024
The Heart of the Eagle Nebula
Approximately 6,500 light-years away in the constellation Serpens lies an immense cloud of gas and dust that has become a symbol of space exploration – the Eagle Nebula. The image above, which shows a region spanning 25 light-years tall by 16 light-years wide, was taken on September 5, 2024, with Dyer Observatory’s 24″ Seyfert Telescope […]
Sep 16, 2024
The Evening Star Returns
If you have a clear western view, go out just as the Sun sets and take note of where it is on the horizon. About 30 minutes afterward, carefully scan to the left of where the Sun disappeared (a pair of binoculars would be helpful). You should pick up a twinkling object masquerading as a […]
Aug 14, 2024
Education & Outreach
Dyer Observatory Welcomes Peabody’s Humphrey Fellows
In addition to the general public visiting Dyer during regularly scheduled events each month, Dyer seizes every opportunity to get members of the Vanderbilt community up to our historic observatory. After numerous reschedulings due to inclement weather, we were delighted to be able to host a fun evening for many of Peabody’s Humphrey fellows on […]
Mar 21, 2025
First-Year Commons Students Visit Dyer Observatory
On the evening of Monday, March 17, first-year students from Stambaugh, Hank Ingram, West, Sutherland, and Murray houses paid a visit to Dyer Observatory. Close to 20 students toured the facility with observatory director Dr. Billy Teets to learn of the history of astronomy at Vanderbilt, including that the first observatory, later known as the […]
Mar 21, 2025
Dyer Observatory partners with Vanderbilt’s Program for Talented Youth for 2025 summer camp
We are thrilled to announce a new collaboration between Dyer Observatory and Vanderbilt’s Programs for Talented Youth (PTY). In lieu of our traditional camps, this summer Dyer will join PTY’s renowned Summer Academy at Vanderbilt for the Young to pilot an astronomy and space science camp designed for academically advanced rising 5th and 6th graders. Led […]
Dec 19, 2024
Festive Fall Events of October 2024
Dyer Observatory is especially gorgeous in autumn as it sits among the changing treetops. We enjoyed a wide variety of events, but here are a few favorites. On October 2, 2024, Percy Priest Elementary held a songwriters night as a fundraiser. Appearing were Jonathan Singleton, Sasha Alex Sloan, Austin Jenckes, and Charlie Worsham. Dinner, cornhole […]
Nov 6, 2024
Be a Part of Nashville’s Astronomy on Tap
The first successful Astronomy on Tap event took place in Brooklyn in 2013. The concept quickly spread due to the international nature of the astronomy community and the general public’s growing interest in space exploration and discovery. AoT has expanded to cities across America and to international outposts in Denmark, India, Germany, the UK, Sweden, […]
Oct 1, 2024
Campers Have a Blast at Dyer Observatory
Dyer Observatory completed another round of summer camps this past July. The two week-long day camps, one for rising 5th and 6th graders and a second for rising 7th and 8th graders, immersed campers in a multitude of hands-on projects and demonstrations, introduced them to world-class scientists, and even took them on a day trip […]
Aug 15, 2024
Nature
Sandhill Cranes Grace Nashville Skies
By Tausif Samin On January 28, 2025, the Dyer Observatory staff dropped everything and ran outside when they heard the unmistakable calls of Sandhill Cranes overhead. Their loud, trumpet-like cries echoed across the sky—a sure sign that the annual winter migration was in full swing. With their wide wings, long legs, and effortless flight, these […]
Feb 11, 2025
Stellar Finds
“Video Tranquilizer” to Reveal Mars Canals
This article appeared on the front page of the May 11, 1957, Nashville Banner.
Jul 31, 2020
A DeWitt Lunar Eclipse
Lunar eclipses are a celestial treat, but for many observers it seems like either the clouds know when to interfere or the eclipse inconveniently happens during the early morning hours.
Jul 10, 2020
Cheeky Chipmunk
This cheeky little fella raiding the bird feeder outside of Dr. Teets’ window is a common Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus).
Jul 2, 2020
Slice of a Meteorite
Happy Asteroid Day! Today marks the 112th anniversary of the Tunguska Event.
Jun 30, 2020
ISS and Atlantis Flyover
It seems like only yesterday that we would see a news segment about one of NASA’s famous space shuttles blasting off of the launchpad from Kennedy Space Center.
Jun 20, 2020
Northern Red Oak and the Derecho
The Dyer Observatory grounds enjoy a large number and variety of trees, but we still hate to see one go.
May 26, 2020
Russia Plans Second Sphere
The Space Race took off in earnest with the Soviet Union’s successful launch of Sputnik I on October 4, 1957.
May 20, 2020
Cumulonimbus Calvus Cloud
As an astronomical observatory, we most look forward to perfectly clear skies which allow us to see distant cosmic bodies, but on occasion we enjoy lovely surprises cooked up by the Earth’s own atmosphere.
May 18, 2020
Lizard Demonstrates Infrared Spectrum
When we set out to show you science in a whole new way, we often mean that literally. A popular demonstration we include in our summer camps showcases infrared light.
May 15, 2020
Muriel Mussells Seyfert – Artist
This Nashville Banner clipping from March 18, 1952, announced a one-night art show at the Ryman Auditorium that featured Muriel Seyfert, wife of Vanderbilt faculty member and future Dyer Observatory director, Carl Seyfert. Not only was Muriel an accomplished painter; she enjoyed many talents including being a renowned astronomer in her own right. In this […]
May 14, 2020
Great Horned Owl
Dyer Observatory is a unique parcel of the Vanderbilt University campus due to its seclusion at the peak of Brentwood ridge. The site is made even more special by being entirely surrounded by the verdant Radnor Lake State Natural Area. A special feature of Radnor is the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center which can […]
May 4, 2020
Shatter Cone from the Wells Creek Basin
Tennessee’s Wells Creek impact basin, located about an hour and a half drive northwest of Nashville, is the source of this shatter cone. It was formed by the shock wave of a meteorite impact massive enough to travel through underlying rock in a branching pattern, which created cone-shaped rock fragments with distinctive striation radiating from […]
May 1, 2020
Comet Mrkos
Occasionally, Nashville residents are lucky enough to see a comet pass in the night sky. In August 1957, Comet Mrkos, named for the Czechoslovakian astronomer Antonín Mrkos who discovered it, was visible for a few weeks to the naked eye. It was dubbed the “2nd Visiting Comet” because that spring, the passing of Comet Arend-Roland […]
Apr 29, 2020
The Ferguson Fused-Quartz Mirror
Vanderbilt University’s Dyer Observatory owes its existence to this 24″ fuzed-quartz disk, which unbeknownst to many first-time visitors to the observatory, is actually an uncoated (no reflective layer) telescope mirror. Vanderbilt University’s acquisition of this mirror, formally known as the Ferguson fused-quartz disk, began around June 1943. The 24″ mirror was made by John Ferguson […]
Apr 28, 2020
The Great Debate
Up until the early 1920s, astronomers questioned one of the fundamental aspects of astronomy that we take for granted today: Is the Milky Way the entire universe or just a small part of it? By the start of the 20th century, astrophotography techniques were beginning to advance, allowing astronomers to gain clearer and deeper images […]
Apr 27, 2020
The DeWitt Wren
On a spring day in May of 2009, then graduate student (now Dyer Observatory astronomer) Billy Teets entered the dome housing Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory’s DeWitt Telescope to retrieve a tool left from work done earlier in the year. An unexplained feeling told him that he should look within the telescope itself. To his surprise, he […]
Apr 24, 2020
Moon Halo
On nights when a bright moon is seen through passing cirrostratus clouds, one might have the opportunity to witness a moon halo, just like the one above captured by Dyer Observatory’s All-Sky camera. The halo measures 22° from the center to the bright inside edge, about twice the width of a fist at arm’s length, and […]
Apr 23, 2020
The Solar Eclipse of March 7, 1970
Did you witness the great solar eclipse of March 7, 1970? Totality crossed Florida and skirted up the United States’ eastern seaboard, but a partial eclipse was visible across the contiguous forty-eight states. In Nashville, the partial eclipse began at 11:04 am and lasted until 2:35 pm. At its peak at 12:20 pm, 84% of […]
Apr 22, 2020
Inclination Compass
When entering Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory, one of the first things noticed is the large display case in the front lobby. Behind its glass, you will find artifacts dating back to the 1870s that reflect the history of astronomy at Vanderbilt University, including Vanderbilt’s Dyer Observatory. The majority of the exhibit is comprised of what is […]
Apr 21, 2020
The DeWitt Observatory
At the heart of Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory is the 24″ Seyfert Telescope. Installed in 1953, thousands of visitors peek through it annually at our various public events. The Seyfert Telescope, however, is not oldest telescope telescope still used at Dyer Observatory. In the 1930s, John H. (“Jack”) DeWitt, one of the key figures responsible for […]
Apr 13, 2020
Redbuds Abound
Every season shares its own unique beauty with us, but spring bursts with especially joyful color. On the Dyer property we look forward to the first blooms of the native redbuds (Cercis canadensis) on top of our hill about this time every year. Photo by Alex. Rockafellar <- Previous April 10, […]
Apr 10, 2020
Observing the Universe with Neutrinos
On this date (April 9) in 1987, Vanderbilt University physicists announced a project named Deep Under Muon and Neutrino Detector (DUMAND) to study neutrinos, tiny particles that escape from stars and violent events such as supernovae. The scientists involved were especially interested in the interaction of collapsing galaxies and black holes. Vanderbilt University physicists Medford Webster […]
Apr 9, 2020
Seyfert’s Sextet
Galaxies are often very photogenic. There are roughly as many galaxies in the observable universe, each with millions to over a trillion stars, as there are individual stars within our own galaxy, the Milky Way. If you do the math, that means there are more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand […]
Apr 8, 2020
Muriel Mussells Seyfert – Jack of All Trades
Muriel Elizabeth Mussells Seyfert (1909-1997) was an astronomer and research assistant at Harvard College Observatory. Among other things, her work led her to discover three new planetary nebulae in the Milky Way in the mid-1930s. The discovery was picked up by the newswires and reported in newspapers across the country. Articles described the objects as “tremendous […]
Apr 7, 2020
Admiring the Fruits of the Labors
The year 1953 was special for Vanderbilt University. Construction of the Arthur J. Dyer Observatory was completed, and the facility was officially given to the university on December 27th. Transforming the observatory from a concept into a reality was no easy task, especially for Dr. Carl K. Seyfert, who many would consider the father of […]
Apr 6, 2020
Early Morning Bolide
Earth is constantly under attack from space invaders, but not the kind you usually see in the latest summer sci-fi flicks. For the most part, it is sand grain-sized particles of rock and ice that constitute the ~100 tons of debris that become part of our planet every day. On any given clear night, observers […]
Apr 3, 2020
A Nesting Great Horned Owl
Visitors to Vanderbilt Dyer Observatory’s Telescope Nights will often hear the haunting calls of a great horned owl echoing through the valleys surrounding the observatory’s property. Over the past decade, a great horned owl has called one of our nearby oak trees home a handful of times, making a nest and hatching at least one […]
Apr 2, 2020
Barnard Observatory
Dyer Observatory is not the first observatory of Vanderbilt University. Pictured above is Barnard Observatory, one of the first four buildings constructed on the main Vanderbilt University campus in the 1870s and eventually named in honor of Nashville’s own Edward Emerson Barnard. Housed inside of the large central dome was a six-inch refractor made […]
Apr 1, 2020