JCCC Astronomy

06/04/2026

Every semester, our JCCC Astronomy students have an opportunity to visit the Powell Observatory in Louisburg, KS. We enjoy darker skies and viewing objects through various telescopes, including their 30-inch (mirror diameter) Newtonian telescope. The observatory and telescope were built and are operated by members of the Astronomical Society of Kansas City.

10/18/2022

The JCCC Astronomy Department now offers a face-to-face option for Fundamentals of Astronomy (ASTR 120). This is a 3 credit-hour lecture class with no lab.

04/05/2020

For the first time, the JCCC Astronomy Department is offering its ASTR 122, Astronomy online. This is a 4-credit class, with lab. Previously, this class was only offered in a face-to-face setting. No on-campus meetings are required. All assignments, including, homework, exams, labs, and naked-eye home observing sessions, will be submitted through Canvas. If you need a science and lab credit, but also need the convenience of completing such a class online, this class will fulfill that need while introducing you to the amazing wonders of the universe!

02/13/2019

Right in the feels.

Pulling at the heart strings: xkcd.com/2111/

01/20/2019

How to see the total lunar eclipse on the night of January 20–21. Watch as the first full Moon of 2019 dances delightfully with Earth's shadow!

01/02/2019

A contact binary KBO? Mindblowing!!! Cant wait for more images.

Meet ! After flying by the most distant object ever explored, our New Horizons spacecraft beamed back the first pictures and science data. These new images, taken from as close as 17,000 miles, revealed that this object is a “contact binary,” consisting of two connected spheres: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/News-Center/News-Article.php?page=20190102

The team says that the two spheres likely joined as early as 99 percent of the way back to the formation of the solar system, colliding no faster than two cars in a fender-bender. Studying Ultima Thule is helping us understand how planets form — both those in our own solar system and those orbiting other stars in our galaxy. Data from the New Year's Day flyby will continue to arrive over the next weeks and months, with much higher resolution images yet to come.

12/31/2018

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft is on the verge of a historic New Year's encounter with an object nicknamed Ultima Thule in the Kuiper Belt a billion miles beyond Pluto. The NASA space probe is set to pass Ultima Thule at a distance of 2,200 miles (3,500 kilometers) at 12:33 a.m. EST (0533 GMT) on Jan. 1, making it the most distant planetary body ever explored up close. We're at the control center in Maryland with live updates throughout the next few days: https://spaceflightnow.com/2018/12/30/new-horizons-ultima-thule-mission-status-center/

12/28/2018

Starting off the new year right! Let's hope it's not cloudy on Jan 20th.

There'll be something for everybody in 2019, with total, annular, and partial solar eclipses — and total and partial lunar eclipses to look forward to.

12/26/2018

Just in time for your NYE celebration! :)

On , New Horizons will perform the most distant planetary flyby ever as it zooms past an object nicknamed . Make sure to follow our partner, the JHU Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), for updates: http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/