Astronomy on Tap DC

Officially in our Operations era✨

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory has concluded its Construction phase & entered Early Operations.

While day-to-day work continues, this milestone marks the home stretch of final fine-tuning ahead of the start of the ten-year LSST, just months away! 🔭🧪

A heartfelt thanks to all who came out last night to nerd out about astronomy with us @dc9club.bsky.social last night! We had such a great time sharing our love of space with you.
Looking forward to seeing you at the next one. Until then, stay awesome!

Astronomy on Tap Tickets | Free | 18 Nov @ DC9, Washington D.C. | DICE ͏feat: beer, trivia & space talks BAR OPENS at 5:00PM Astronomy on Tap DC features 3 speakers giving engaging talks about the Universe and prize giveaways....

Can't wait to see you all at @dc9club.bsky.social tomorrow night for Astronomy on Tap!
We'll talk about alien worlds and black holes. Still some tickets left! RSVP for your free entry: dice.fm/event/eow3y2...

So excited to share our talk line-up for Astronomy on Tap DC! Come out to hear about how to build an exoplanet, searching for exoplanets and finding alien life, and searching for companion black holes!
Full details: astronomyontap.org/event/astron...

UPDATE: A CHANCE to see NORTHERN LIGHTS in DC area TONIGHT (Tues into Wed).
A strong geomagnetic storm is hitting Earth NOW (8p Tuesday) w/ aurora erupting to our north. It could get stronger & reach severe levels into Wed. Clouds are an impediment though. Read more: www.facebook.com/capitalweath...

Join us at our November Astronomy on Tap at @dc9club.bsky.social on Tuesday November 18th! Talk program TBA shortly.
Make sure to RSVP for your free ticket: dice.fm/event/eow3y2...

An illustration of a young planet with a surrounding disk of dust and gas potentially forming moons. The planet, which appears dark red, is shown at lower right, circled by a cloudy, clumpy reddish orange-colored disk. The host star appears at upper left, and glows yellow, with its own reddish disk of debris. The disk that surrounds the planet takes up about half the illustration. The black background of space is speckled with stars. At the bottom of the illustration, graphics of molecules are listed in the following order: Acetylene, Carbon Dioxide, Ethane, Benzene, Hydrogen cyanide. The words Artist’s Concept appear at upper right.

#NASAWebb has found the first direct evidence of potential moon formation around a giant exoplanet. The discovery is shedding light on how such systems evolve and why moons could be potentially habitable worlds: https://bit.ly/46xGodN 🔭 🧪

Advocacy Action Center The Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud.

JUST IN! Congress is considering a stopgap bill to keep the government open through Nov. 20. OMB is planning to cut billions from NASA during this, risking paid-for missions and thousands of jobs.

Tell Congress to protect NASA science and prevent these cuts: www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...

a black cat is standing next to an orange pumpkin Alt: a black cat is standing next to an orange pumpkin

WE ARE SO BACK

Astronomy on Tap Baltimore is coming at you on Tuesday, October 28th, with a spooky evening full of SPACE KNOWLEDGE!

Join us at Guilford Hall Brewery for astronomy talks, space trivia, and other treats (no tricks here!).

Costumes not required, but strongly encouraged!

Don’t forget: protest tomorrow outside of NASA HQ in Washington DC! Speakers will be out from 12-1pm. See you there! #nasaneedshelp #protest #washingtondc

NASA workers plan 3rd protest at D.C. headquarters on Sept. 15 to decry Trump's science funding cuts 'Congress says they want to save NASA. Let's see them do it now.'

Thank you @space.com for covering our upcoming protest on Monday! www.space.com/space-explor... #nasaneedshelp #fundingcuts #nasa #sciencestandstogether

Advocacy Action Center The Planetary Society is organizing a new space constituency that is educated, empowered, and loud.

Humanity can bring these samples back, but the White House is considering abandoning the mission. Tell Congress they must act and pass timely appropriations for NASA to prevent a funding gap: www.planetary.org/advocacy-act...

NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year - NASA A sample collected by NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover from an ancient dry riverbed in Jezero Crater could preserve evidence of ancient microbial life. Taken

BREAKING NEWS: NASA has found a potential sign of past life on Mars. www.nasa.gov/news-release...

We’re still pushing to keep NASA whole! Tell Congress to get their “power of the purse” back and NASA leadership to uphold their oaths to the constitution and the NASA principles of science and exploration for all humankind. #nasaneedshelp #sciencestandstogether #keeppushing

Another "Save NASA" Protest At NASA HQ on Monday There will be another “Save NASA” protest at NASA Headquarters

There will be another “Save NASA” protest at #NASA Headquarters on Monday Sept. 15th. This is the third “Save NASA” protest in Washington, DC. nasawatch.com/activism/ano...

Webb’s Search for Habitable Worlds Some exoplanets sound like sci-fi, but they’re real. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is revealing new details about planets orbiting distant stars.

Néstor Espinoza, an astronomer at STScI, explains how #NASAWebb is revealing new details about exoplanets, especially rocky worlds like Earth. Catch him on the latest episode of "NASA's Curious Universe." 🔭 🧪
https://www.nasa.gov/podcasts/curious-universe/webbs-search-for-habitable-worlds/

Our grassroots awareness team handed out over 200 mini-flyers yesterday at @airandspacemuseum! The flyers had facts on how to support NASA. Seeing as everyone in line was interested in learning about aeronautics and space, they were predominantly receptive to our message. #nasa #nasaneedshelp

We are extremely concerned at the recent announcement from Wallops and Goddard telling of building and service closures.

1/n

Nearly 4,000 NASA employees opt to leave agency through deferred resignation program The employees who have chosen to leave the agency amount to about 20% of NASA's workforce.

Nearly 4k NASA employees - about 20% of the agency - are announced to be leaving under the Trump admin’s deferred resignation program.

This comes days after hundreds of #NASA workers signed the #VoyagerDeclaration.

Sign your support for #NASA workers here ➡️zurl.co/vHTrh

zurl.co/93cyM

In scathing letter, NASA workers rebuke ‘rapid and wasteful changes’ at agency | CNN Current and former NASA employees have co-signed a declaration protesting changes at the agency that some say pose a grave risk to astronauts.

Hundreds of NASA employees have sounded the alarm.

They took the risk. Now it’s your turn. Stand with NASA employees calling out corruption and dangerous cuts.

Sign your support for the brave #NASA employees here➡️ zurl.co/X4CZT

zurl.co/Ob1wt

#StandUpForScience
#VoyagerDeclaration

NASA Needs Help We're fighting for science, engineering, and exploration. Tell Congress to push back on the 2025 Presidential Budget Request that cuts NASA Science by 47%, STEM education by 100%, and NASA's full b...

Sunday, 7/20, 2-6 PM at EISENHOWER MEMORIAL PARK we will be having a peaceful protest to show support for NASA. Please share with your networks! More information can be found here: sites.google.com/view/nasanee...

Event We're fighting for science, engineering, and exploration. Tell Congress to push back on the 2025 Presidential Budget Request that cuts NASA Science by 47% and NASA's full budget by 25%! Previous pro...

sites.google.com/view/nasanee... Protest in D.C. this Sunday, July 20, 2025, 2-6 pm. Location TBD, check the website for updates on Wednesday. Please share to get the word out. We're fighting for science, engineering, and exploration.

Tell Congress to push back on the 2025 Presidential Budget Request that cuts NASA Science by 47% and NASA's full budget by 25%! And while you're at it, tell them you want STEM education saved, too.

Save the date! We will be hosting a protest in D.C. on the afternoon of July 20th. Check back for more details soon.

The bill from the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee includes $9 billion for NSF and $24.9 billion for NASA, including $7.3 billion for the Science Mission Directorate.

A section of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a local star-forming region composed of gas, dust, and young stars. Four roughly circular areas are toward the center of the frame: a small oval toward the top left, a large circle in the top center, and two ovals at bottom left and right. Each circular area has a luminous blue glow, with the top center and bottom left areas the brightest. Brown-orange filaments of dust, which vary in density, surround these four bluish patches and stretch toward the frame’s edges. Small zones, such as to the left and right of the top-center blue circular area, appear darker and seemingly vacant of stars. Toward the center are small, fiery red clumps scattered among the brown dust. Many small, yellow-white stars are spread across the scene, some with eight-pointed diffraction spikes that are characteristic of Webb. A few larger blue-white stars with diffraction spikes are scattered throughout, mostly toward the top left and bottom right.

Hooray for three years of paw-sitively amazing #NASAWebb science! To celebrate, the telescope examined a singular “toe bean” of the Cat’s Paw Nebula, a massive star-forming region. Webb reveals gas, dust, and massive young stars: webbtelescope.pub/4khJK9T 🔭

Reply with an image of your pet’s paws! 🐾

Did we know that we were releasing #NASAWebb's Cat's Paw Nebula on #NationalKittenDay? Nope, it was fortuitous. 😹 🔭 🧪

What did you all think of virtual bingo? Is it a keeper or do you want to go back to pencil and paper?

Way to show up DC! Packed house for our special public policy AoTDC @dc9club.bsky.social

Photos from last night featuring our fantastic speakers: Jack Kiraly (The Planetary Society), Colin Hamill (AAS Office of Public Policy), and Roohi Dalal (AAS Office of Public Policy)

The best things to do in D.C. this weekend and next week July Fourth crab feasts, rooftop parties and a hot-dog-eating contest are on the agenda, along with outdoor movies, concerts and festivals.

We're stoked to be listed in @washingtonpost.com's Going Out Guide: wapo.st/4009AYI

There's still some tickets left for tomorrow's AoTDC @dc9club.bsky.social: dice.fm/event/bbd36v...

Join us to hear about the prospects for the future of space science and what you can do about it!