How Wisconsin's Native Tribes Viewed the Night Sky 

Astronomy contributor Jean Creighton speaking with Lake Effect\'s Bonnie North.

There have been astronomers in Wisconsin for a long time. There’s the Yerkes Observatory near Lake Geneva. There are astronomy programs at places like UWM and UW-Madison. And even a private observatory up in the Northwoods.

Bonnie North that well before European settlers landed in the area, Wisconsin\'s Native Americans were already studying the night sky.

The Hubble Space Telescope Gave Us the First Look at Black Holes

Black holes have a bad reputation.  The line is that they’re so dense, not even light can escape, and many of us imagine being pulled inexorably toward an enormous vacuum cleaner or a drain with no hope of escape.

The truth is a little more nuanced than that.  And we know much more about them today because of the Hubble Space Telescope. 

"The Hubble Space Telescope gave us the first concrete evidence of the existence of a super massive black hole in another galaxy," notes astronomy contributor and director of the Manfred Olson Planetarium at UW-Milwaukee, Jean Creighton.

Changes at Yerkes Observatory, An Artifact of Wisconsin's Astronomical Glory Days

Dawn Erb / UWM Dept of Astronomy, Gravitation & Cosmology

Stargazers can take note. Soon, you may not be able to use the historic Yerkes Observatory on Geneva Lake in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

The observatory, built in the 1890s, has in recent decades been used primarily for education and outreach. The University of Chicago, which runs the observatory, announced that it will be ceasing its operations at the facility on October 1, 2018.

The Hubble Space Telescope: 28 Years of Scientific Contributions

One of the key pieces of technology that has enabled space exploration is the Hubble Space Telescope. Astronomy contributor Jean Creighton, who also leads UW-Milwaukee\'s Manfred Olson Planetarium, celebrates the telescope\'s four most important contributions in her current program: Hubble\'s Cosmic Quest.

A meteor shower is always a good excuse to get outside and look into the night sky. But it’s not the only time when you can see a streak of light overhead.

Astronomy contributor and Manfred Olson Planetarium director Jean Creighton says that while people generally know shooting stars have something to do with solar system debris, many don\'t know its origin.

"The shooting star is what we see in our atmosphere, but it starts earlier and farther away from either the chunk of an asteroid or comet - which are called meteoroids in the void of space," she explains.