NMSU Astronomy

10/16/2026

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have made the decision to cancel the Public Night tonight.

Please check out -> https://astro.nmsu.edu/events/open-house.html

‼️IMPORTANT‼️Night at the Observatory Cancelled

Due to equipment issues that are still being repaired, Night at the Observatory on Oct. 16 has been cancelled.

While we were looking forward to welcoming the community to Tombaugh Observatory, the safety and comfort of our guests come first. We are working to complete the necessary repairs and will announce a new date as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we encourage you to enjoy New Mexico's beautiful night skies on your own and start thinking about the questions you'd like to ask our astronomers when Night at the Observatory returns.

Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to seeing you under the stars soon! 🌠

10/07/2026

Once again we thank NM State Football for granting us access to the football field for our scale model of the solar system lab. It is truly the best way to get an appreciation for the sizes of the planets and the vast distances between them. Thanks 🏈! We also had an interstellar interloper swing through our solar system! ☄️🐾

10/06/2026

The NMSU Astronomy Department showed up and got wet! We were short on buckets but big on teamwork as we gladly accepted the ice bucket challenge 🧊🥶💧💦🪣 from James McAteer. It's for a great cause and we tag the NMSU physics department to go next !

09/30/2026

We recently had the pleasure of hosting a number of NMSU leaders and some Congressional staffers at Apache Point Observatory! We appreciate their engagement and interest in this important resource for NMSU. 🤩

09/19/2026

We had a great department turnout for this year's NMSU Gratitude Run! We fielded the largest team at 17 people (the Tombaugh Trotters - also the best name and best logo), had numerous age group placements, awesome cheering supporters, and a super fun time.

09/18/2026

Due to expected weather, the open house for tonight (Sept 18th, 2026) has been cancelled.

Please check out our other monthy public nights here! ->

Our Open House events are held at the  Tombaugh Observatory  on the NMSU main campus (click  here  to see its location). They occur roughly once per month, often near the time of the first-quarter Moon from September through May, and occasionally during the summer. Each evening program includes ...

09/07/2026

Super fun departmental outing today to see the El Paso Chihuahuas SHUT OUT the Las Vegas Aviators! Thanks to our fearless leader Jason Jackiewicz for organizing it, and for tossing out the first pitch (see video in comments) to set the tone for the game !

04/20/2026

Congratulations Dr. Shetye and team!

The National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) is the NSF’s most prestigious award. It recognizes the impact of junior faculty’s success in research and...

04/11/2026

A New Mexico State University astronomy student has been awarded a prestigious, highly competitive NASA grant to support research into the sun and its activity. https://bit.ly/4mpzeQs

03/05/2026

There are two proposals being considered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that have the potential to severely affect the night sky environment.

The two proposals are 1) Reflect Orbital’s plan to illuminate Earth at Night and 2) SpaceX’s proposal to launch one million satellites into low Earth orbit.

Several Organizations, including the American Astronomical Society as well as DarkSky International, are calling for people to understand these proposals, be informed, and submit comments.

Here are some articles on these two proposals that aim to make the public informed on these proposals and how they will potentially affect the night sky:

https://aas.org/action-alert-provide-input-fcc-proposed-satellite-systems

https://darksky.org/news/two-satellite-proposals-threaten-the-night-sky-the-window-to-act-is-now/

And a link to an Open Letter describing this issue: https://darksky.org/news/open-letter-to-spacex

In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency responsible for authorizing satellite launches and operations…