In The Sky
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Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Speeds By
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (indicated by the white marker) appears as a faint smudge rapidly moving against the background stars in this animation from Dyer Observatory’s Seyfert Telescope. During the five minutes between each of the frames, the comet moved approximately 10,000 miles. Click on the image for a higher… Read MoreAug. 26, 2025
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Dyer Catches a Rare Eclipse on Saturn
In the early morning hours of August 19, 2025, Saturn’s largest moon Titan cast a shadow on Saturn’s globe. This view is a stacked image obtained by Dyer Observatory’s Seyfert Telescope. Credit: Billy Teets In the early morning hours of Tuesday, August 19, Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, passed between… Read MoreAug. 26, 2025
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The Great Cluster of Hercules
The Great Hercules Cluster (M13) is one of the brightest deep-sky objects and can even be seen by the naked eye on a dark summer night. Credit: Billy Teets We often think that in order to see pretty much anything in the sky other than the Moon or some… Read MoreJul. 29, 2025
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Oh, The Things You’ll See!
Dyer Telescope Night in Nashville, Tennessee, on June 13, 2025. Photo by Alondra Moya One of the highlights each month at Dyer Observatory is Telescope Night. During these events, visitors come to one of two hour-long sessions to get firsthand views of some of the wonders of the cosmos,… Read MoreJun. 26, 2025
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The Leo Trio
The Leo Trio is comprised of galaxies M65 (top left), M66 (top right), and NGC 3628 (bottom). The three galaxies appear close enough together that all three can be viewed simultaneously with a small telescope. Credit: Billy Teets Now that we have reached summertime in the northern hemisphere, many… Read MoreJun. 25, 2025
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Spirals of the Great Bear
Galaxies M81 (left) and M82 (right) appear in the same field of view of many backyard telescopes. The featured image is a composite of images totaling nearly six hours of exposure taken with a 16″ telescope at Dyer Observatory. Credit: Billy Teets Our Milky Way galaxy is a treasure… Read MoreMay. 28, 2025
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Just Off of Orion’s Belt
Just off the famous belt of Orion lie several regions of nebulosity, each around 1.500 light-years away, that are favorite targets for astrophotographers. To the right of Alnitak (the brightest star of the image) is a large complex of gas with a dust cloud seen in silhouette – the… Read MoreApr. 22, 2025
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A Total Lunar Eclipse Awes
The Moon as it appeared around maximum totality during the total lunar eclipse of March 14, 2025. Credit: Billy Teets 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… Read MoreMar. 21, 2025
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Mars Has Been Busy!
The Moon and Mars about one minute prior to lunar occultation on January 13, 2025. Credit: Billy Teets 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… Read MoreFeb. 11, 2025
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The Sword of Orion
The above 4.5-hour exposure of the sword of Orion reveals the splendor of the Orion Nebula near image center and the fainter glow of the elusive Running Man Nebula at top. The image is a composite of 135 two-minute exposures using Dyer Observatory’s ZWO ASI6200MC Pro color camera mounted… Read MoreJan. 13, 2025