Cosmic Art Gallery

the observatory

An observatory is a large, dome-shaped building made to observe the night sky. Scientists use observatories about stars, planets and other astronomical objects.

William and Mary actually has its own observatory on the roof of Small Hall. Currently, it's out of service, but the William and Mary Astronomy Club is working really hard to get the money to get it fixed.

Pictures taken from the observatory

All of the beautiful pictures shown above were taken at the observatory by William and Mary students. From planets, to nebulas, to moons the observatory has seen it all. Scroll down below for in-depth descriptions of what you're seeing.

Earth's moon

Photo by J. Gunnarson ('17)

The surface of the Moon features a huge number of impact craters from comets and asteroids that have collided with the surface over time.



"I like taking photos of the moon, I guess because it’s so close and you can see the features in such detail.” — Alexandra Cramer, ’18

Trifid nebula

Photo by J. Gunnarson ('17)

A nebula is a giant cloud of gas and dust where new stars are born. The trifid nebula is located in one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way, our galaxy!



“The red region is an area of ionized hydrogen where stars are forming and the blue region is a cloud of dust particles that reflect the light from nearby stars. Both are crossed by cool, dark wisps of dust and gas.” — Jacob Gunnarson ’17

Dumbbell Nebula

Photo by J. Gunnarson ('17)

Named for it's dumbbell shape, the Dumbbell nebula is about 1,227 light years away. That's 7 quadrillion miles away! Quadrillion is a lot of zeroes—15 in fact.



“This is a planetary nebula, which formed when a star much like our sun neared the end of its life and shed its outer layers, which are now illuminated by the intense UV radiation put out by the remaining core of the star.” — Jacob Gunnarson '17

jupiter

Photo by J. Gunnarson ('17)

Jupiter is the 5th planet from the sun in our solar system (Earth is the 3rd) and by far the largest planet. Known as a gas giant, is mostly made of hydrogen and helium



This is the last photo ever taken in the observatory. Hopefully, with the help of the school and W&M alumni we can take many more breathtaking photos like this in the future.