Barnard Astronomical Society of Chattanooga

06/22/2026

That is one beautiful piece of 90 year old pyrex glass!

Did you know? The glass for the primary mirror of historic telescope is 20.5-inches in diameter, 4-inches thick, and weighs 102 pounds.

06/22/2026

Happy Summer Solstice! Hope everyone enjoyed the longest day of the year yesterday 🌞

Image Credit: NASA

06/18/2026

It is amazing that the "temporary" projector was used until 2019!

Did you know? The original pinhole planetarium projector was built by Clarence T. Jones in 1951 at a local hobby shop for use in a temporary 12-foot dome located in the observatory library.

06/12/2026

It took almost 10 years but it was certainly a well deserved name for the observatory. Clarence T. Jones and his family were the driving force behind the construction of this historic building and telescope.

Did you know? Although built in 1936 for the public school system, the observatory wasn’t officially named for Clarence T. Jones until after it was transferred to UTC in 1944. At the time, buildings constructed under the government’s Public Works Administration could not be named after a living person.

06/05/2026

We are so excited for the telescope to be completed!

Did you know? For the past year, the historic 20.5” telescope has been undergoing the most substantial renovation since 1973 and should be completed by the end of this Summer. We can't wait to show it to you!

06/01/2026

Venus and Jupiter get close enough to say hello from our perspective in about a week and June 21 is the summer solstice! ☀️

Venus and Jupiter meet after sunset, the Moon passes in front of Venus, summer begins, and deep-sky treasures rise into view.

05/29/2026

We are so thankful for the preservation and restoration efforts towards this historic observatory. This wouldn’t happen without the support from both UTC and the Chattanooga community. Thank you!

We hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer and that you are able to get out and view the stars (when it isn't cloudy). We will spend the summer preparing for our Fall Star Party season and are working to have at least a couple of events this summer so watch out for those announcements. Until then, we thought we would use our social media pages to share some fun facts about the observatory. We plan to put these out about one per week. Enjoy and we look forward to seeing you all at our next event. Picture is of the current exterior renovations taking place that will spruce up and help to preserve our historic building. This work should be completed by the end of summer...just in time for our Star Party season!!

05/01/2026

We are passing through the dust trail of Halley's Comet, which peaks as the the Eta Aquarid meteor shower later this week!

Shooting stars before dawn, a brilliant meetup between the Moon and Venus and a rare blue moon to end the month.

04/21/2026

Join us on Wednesday, April 22 from 7:00-9:00 for a special Earth Day event to celebrate our favorite planet! In partnership with the UTC Geology Program, there will be a free planetarium show and opportunities to learn more about Earth! Best access to the observatory is to park behind the Brainerd United Methodist Church. Donations always appreciated!