Would You Be Interested in a Women in Stem-Focused Book Club?
We’re thinking about starting a Zoom book club in January focused on biographies and memoirs about Women in STEM–and we’d love to know if you’d be interested in joining!
Newsletter
No Cosmic Conversations in October
No Cosmic Conversations in October
Instead, BI Parks Haunted Hayride experience takes over Battle Point Park for three nights of Halloween magic, October 21-23!
Brian Cox Coming to Seattle
Professor Brian Cox will be appearing at the Moore Theatre in January 2027. Tickets just went on presale with code COSMOS.
BPAA Members: Save the Date for the Annual Meeting
Please save the date for the Battle Point Astronomical Association Annual Meeting!
Saturday, January 10th, 2026 at 6 pm
Ready, Set, Process: Preparing for Rubin Observatory’s Data Deluge
The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, starting in late 2025, will begin the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)—the most expansive sky survey ever conducted. Using a 3,200-megapixel camera built at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, it will capture an 8GB image every 40 seconds, revisiting the same sky regions every three nights. This decade-long project aims to uncover rare cosmic events by collecting vast amounts of astrophysical data. The observatory is jointly funded and operated by the NSF and DOE.
James Webb Telescope Spots ‘Cosmic Owl,’ Super-Rare Structure Formed from Colliding Ring Galaxies
Scientists using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered a peculiar owl-faced structure formed by the rare collision of two ring galaxies. This cosmic event, located billions of light-years away, offers a unique opportunity to study galaxy evolution. Ring galaxies like Hoag’s Object emerge when a smaller galaxy passes through a larger one, creating shock waves that push stars and gas into a ring around a central core.
NASA’s Webb Observes Immense Stellar Jet on Outskirts of Our Milky Way
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope captured a rare and massive stellar jet erupting from a growing protostar in the Sharpless 2-284 nebula. The jet spans 8 light-years—twice the distance to Alpha Centauri—and resembles a double-bladed lightsaber. The protostar, about ten times the mass of our Sun, lies 15,000 light-years away. Scientists were surprised by the discovery, as such powerful outflows of molecular hydrogen from massive stars are uncommon in our galaxy.
NASA Study: Celestial ‘Accident’ Sheds Light on Jupiter, Saturn Riddle
A mysterious brown dwarf nicknamed “The Accident” is helping scientists uncover why silicon is rarely detected in the atmospheres of gas giants like Jupiter, Saturn, and similar exoplanets. Discovered in 2020 by a citizen scientist through NASA’s Backyard Worlds project, The Accident has an unusual mix of traits seen in both young and old brown dwarfs. Its unique features allowed it to evade standard detection methods. Recent observations using the James Webb Space Telescope have provided new insights, with findings published in Nature on September 4.