Happy Thanksgiving from the Dome!
Happy Thanksgiving from Bracken Observatory!
This Thanksgiving, I want to give a special shout-out to my wife, Katherine, for all her incredible support and partnership. She is truly the backbone of the operation, putting up with all those late night (sometimes all-night) observing or dome-maintenance sessions. She helps with everything from packing shipments to helping plan our community outreach activities next year. She's got a great listening ear, and a good business sense to boot.
Thanks also to my many friends and supporters here in the US, and around the world—especially those back in my home city of Dublin. In that spirit of thankfulness, we are offering a special discount!
Enjoy 15% Off Everything in the Store!
From now through December 3rd, please go ahead and use code THANKS15 at checkout to enjoy 15% off everything here in the observatory store!
Connecting North America to Deep Space
As we celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday here in the US, we felt it would be appropriate to use this image of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000) in our social media posts. The grandeur of space connects us all, no matter where we are on this pale blue dot.
🇪🇺 Expansion: Easier Shipping to Europe (VAT/IOSS)
Speaking of global connections, we are delighted to now have the ability to ship from our observatory store to all of the countries in the European Union, expanding our international outreach!
Getting to grips with international tax rules was an exciting challenge (a special thanks to the team that made this happen!). This allows us to offer much smoother service to our customers across the pond.
- For orders under €150 (the IOSS limit): Prices shown in euros will include the appropriate Value-Added Tax (VAT). We collect this tax at checkout, which means no nasty surprise fees or delays when the package arrives at your door.
- For orders over €150: We won't collect VAT at checkout. Instead, customers will be contacted by the carrier to pay the required VAT and import duties before delivery.
We'd love to get some feedback from our European friends on how this new process works out. I'd appreciate it if you could contact me with any glitches you encounter, so that we can address them right away. We want the shipping process to be as smooth as the view through a telescope.
I will leave you now, to get ready for Thanksgiving dinner, with the promise that before this weekend is out, I will have processed another deep space image for you to feast your eyes on!
-Paul Bracken