Blueshifted, the Beaver Moon & a Bundle of Thanks
To the Slooh community,
You don’t get to hear directly from me much, but I am Anna, Director of Education Partnerships for Slooh and the editor of the newsletter. Educators and students probably know me as your main point of contact over the years, and the rest of the community knows me as Whalien Princess on Slooh (I love whales and the whale avatar was my doing…I love to see how popular it is.) I want to take a moment to express my gratitude.
To our community of professors who have adopted Slooh for their courses and spread the word: you helped us nearly double our higher ed partners in a single year. To our K-12 educators, who aren’t always told to prioritize space science but make room for it anyway: thank you for sharing the awe of the universe with the next generation. To the students of Slooh, your excitement and curiosity fuel our mission every day to make hands-on astronomy more accessible. To our families, hobbyists, and amateur astronomers: your observations, star party attendance, and passion for the night sky keep this platform alive. And to the Slooh team, working around the clock across every time zone (some for nearly 20 years): I’m proud to help bring your work out into the world. The dedication to bettering this product and user experience really shows.
Our goal has always been to build community, helping people feel connected to each other and to the universe while we educate and inspire. In a world of constant change and uncertainty, we need connection and authenticity more than ever and we are keen on delivering that to you as we always have. Yes, we’re a screen-based platform, but our mission reaches far beyond the online telescope feed. We want you to learn something here, feel inspired, and then log off, step outside, and look up a little differently than you did before.
Our team is always here for you and eager to connect with you and your experience on Slooh. We welcome critique and praise and don’t take any feedback lightly. You are welcome to reach out to me anytime at anna@slooh.com. Thanks for listening and have a wonderful November everyone. I am so grateful again for this community!
Sincerely,
Anna Paolucci
Director of Education Partnerships & Newsletter Editor
Blueshifted: An Evening for the NJ/NYC Space Community
In astronomy, objects appear blueshifted as they move closer to us, and that’s exactly what this night is about: bringing academia, industry, and everyone in between a little closer together. Slooh and NOVA are hosting BLUESHIFTED, the first networking event of its kind for the NJ/NYC astronomy and space community. If you are in the area, please get a ticket below and join us!
📅 Thursday, November 19 · 🕖 6:30–9:30 PM ET · 📍 Hoboken Biergarten, Hoboken, NJ
We’re keeping it to about 50 people, so grab your spot early → RSVP on Partiful
Share Your Slooh Journey
Members: Every Sunday, your Weekly Digest lands in your inbox with your Slooh week, Wordle-style: a row of squares for your images, your missions, and your Quests, plus your rank and Gravity Points. Tap the share button right from the email and send it to your group chat, your family, or your astronomy club. Then find out who needs to get on whose level. 👀
Not a member yet? Sign up for a Slooh membership to watch live telescope feeds, capture your own snapshots, earn Gravity Points and badges, and get your first Weekly Digest this Sunday. Start your Slooh journey today →
All Week | Saturn After Sunset
Saturn remains well placed in the evening sky following its October opposition. Look toward the southern sky after dark to find the ringed planet, and use a telescope to explore its rings.
Nov 9 | New Moon
The New Moon brings some of the darkest skies of the month. The nights around it are an excellent opportunity to explore faint deep-sky targets, including galaxies and nebulae, especially away from city lights.
Nov 11–12 | Northern Taurid Meteor Shower
The Northern Taurids reach their predicted peak overnight. Rates are low, but this shower is known for slow-moving meteors and occasional bright fireballs. With little moonlight to interfere, it's a promising time to look up.
Nov 16 | Mars Meets Jupiter
Look toward the southern sky before dawn to spot Mars and brilliant Jupiter appearing just over a degree apart. The two planets make their closest approach, creating a striking pairing that's easy to enjoy with the naked eye.
Nov 17–18 | Leonid Meteor Shower
The Leonids, produced by debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, reach their annual peak overnight. Among the fastest meteors, they can produce bright streaks and occasional glowing trains. Expect around 15 meteors per hour under ideal conditions. The Moon sets during the night, making the hours before dawn a good opportunity to observe.
Nov 24 | Beaver Supermoon
November's full Moon is a supermoon, appearing slightly larger and brighter than an average full Moon. Look for it near the Pleiades star cluster in the evening, and explore the lunar surface with Slooh's Canary Six telescope.
Nov 25 | Uranus at Opposition
Uranus reaches opposition, putting the distant ice giant at its brightest for the year and making it visible throughout the night. Find it in Taurus with binoculars or a telescope, and explore our featured Slooh 1000 object below!
Nov 28 | November Orionids
A minor meteor shower reaches its predicted peak late in the month. Activity is sparse, and bright moonlight will make this already subtle shower harder to observe over Thanksgiving weekend.
🦃 November Quest Guide 🔭
November brings crisp skies, bright stars, and a spectacular full moon—making it the perfect month for new celestial captures and discoveries! From ancient mythology and stellar evolution to an intergalactic adventure, these Quests offer exciting ways to explore the Universe.
🌕 Under the Beaver Moon: November's full moon takes center stage in the Beaver Moon 2026 Quest, where Members discover the traditions behind this seasonal lunar name and capture the full moon on November 24, 2026. It's a wonderful opportunity to connect the changing seasons with the stories and traditions inspired by our nearest celestial neighbor.
✨ Midnight with the Pleiades: For thousands of years, cultures around the world have celebrated the midnight culmination of the Pleiades on November 22. The Midnight Culmination of the Pleiades Quest invites Members to trace these ancient observations while learning how this celestial event can help them capture their best Slooh images.
📅 The Gods Hidden in Our Week: In the Gods In Your Calendar Quest, Members uncover the astronomical origins of the seven-day week and the ancient gods whose names live on in our calendars. By capturing the seven celestial wanderers known to ancient skywatchers, they'll explore connections between astronomy, mythology, and language before creating a poster showcasing their own week in the sky.
🌟 A Star's Journey: The Life and Death of Stars Quest takes Members through the complete life cycle of stars, from their birth in dense nebulae to their brilliant finales as white dwarfs, neutron stars, or black holes. Members will use HR diagrams to track how mass determines a star's fate.
🛸 An Unexpected Visit to Earth: The Destination: Earth Quest takes Members on a whimsical intergalactic adventure as an extraterrestrial sociologist stranded on our planet. Through storytelling, telescope observations, and cosmic distance calculations, they'll explore how astronomy shapes human civilization while plotting their journey back to the stars.
🌍 Impact!: In the Crater Collector Quest, Members capture and catalog 50 impact craters around the world, learning how scientists like Eugene Shoemaker proved that some craters were formed by meteorite impacts, not volcanoes. The final product—a large-format crater poster—makes for a striking classroom display.
These Quests are perfect for sparking curiosity as Members head into the long nights of late autumn, connecting astronomy with history, mythology, and creativity while discovering new wonders across the Universe.
Spotlight
This month’s spotlight shines on our partners at Penn State University, home to the largest class in Slooh history!
One year into our partnership, more than 2,200 Penn State students have earned nearly 1.5 million Gravity Points on Slooh. Along the way, they’ve:
- Reserved more than 78,000 telescope missions
- Captured over 100,000 images of the night sky
- Completed nearly 4,000 Quests
To the Penn State students and faculty: thank you for showing what’s possible when a whole class looks up together. Next stop: 2 million!
Featured Slooh 1000: Uranus
Our featured object this month is the ice giant Uranus!
On November 25, Uranus reaches opposition, sitting directly opposite the Sun in our sky. That means it rises at sunset, stays up all night, and shines brighter than at any other time this year. Look for it in Taurus, not far from the Pleiades. Through a telescope, Uranus shows its pale blue-green disc, and with Slooh you may even catch a few of its moons.
