Watch outer space for free on a live stream

A company called Slooh, which provides live streams of outer space via telescope, is opening up its sightings of eclipses, full moons, asteroids, and comets to anyone with an internet connection — for free. All you need to do is sign up on their website.

Slooh owns seven telescopes at its main observatory on the Canary Islands, and three telescopes in Chile. It also has partnerships with other observatories around the world. It works like this: anyone who’s willing to pay can choose where to point one of Slooh’s telescopes for five or 10 minutes; the asteroid or supernova that’s being observed is then live-streamed to Slooh members sitting in the comfort of their homes. Before today, being able to see these live streams cost at least $4.95 per month. But as of August 7th, you can view the live streams for free.

You can watch outer space for up to 20 hours a day, which conveniently leaves you with four hours for sleep. And if you feel like splurging, you can always become a Slooh Apprentice (for $4.95 per month) or a Slooh Astronomer (for $24.95 per month) and gain some power to point the telescopes at the space objects of your choice. (With a free account, you can’t control the telescopes and you’re limited in how many photos you can take, but at least you still get to look on over other people’s shoulders.)

So get ready to sip a nice cup of tea and do some star gazing — without ever getting off your couch.

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