Welcome to the Observatory's Front Page. Included here are some of the latest news and articles that may be of interest to our visitors.
FAU's Astronomical Observatory is housed under a four meter diameter dome on the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University. We welcome students, faculty, staff and members of the general public to join our scheduled observations or our public viewing events. Our telescope is mounted on a small platform, at the top of stairs, looking out of the roof of our building, over Boca Raton, to space and beyond!
Florida Atlantic University is closing on July 4th to celebrate Earth's orbital Aphelion position . . . . and to celebrate the nation's Independence Day. And the University will extend its closure to include the NEW Moon on Friday, July the 5th.
As such, the Observatory's regular First Friday Public Viewing Sessions will be canceled for July 5th. BUT be assured that if the nova does go off, then we will promptly have a special viewing session to devote to it. More about that in the following article.
Corona Borealis ("CrB") or the "crown north", is a faint constellation of a circlet of stars that lies midway between the star Arcturus in the constellation of Boötes and the "keystone" of Hercules. In this part of the sky, a giant stellar explosion called a nova, is expected to happen. Our Observatory staff is keeping an eye on it and you can too. Read more.
