Tag: University of Washington
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Rubin Observatory team discovers 11,000 new asteroids, with help from University of Washington software
A model of the inner solar system shows asteroids discovered by the Rubin Observatory in light teal. Previously known asteroids are dark blue. The model highlights almost 12,700 asteroids that the Rubin team has discovered over the course of a year and a half. (Photo: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / NOIRLab / SLAC /…
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Rubin Observatory sends out thousands of data alerts with an assist from Seattle astronomers
Each night, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory issues thousands of alerts about changes in the night sky. (NOIRLab / NSF / DOE-SC Illustration) An astronomical alert system developed at the University of Washington started off with a bang this week, sending out 800,000 notifications about moving asteroids, exploding stars and other celestial changes detected by…
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Rubin Observatory spots an asteroid that spins fast enough to set a record
An artist’s conception zeroes in on a main-belt asteroid called 2025 MN45, which makes a full rotation in less than two minutes. (Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / NOIRLab / SLAC / AURA / P. Marenfeld) Astronomers say they’ve found an asteroid that spins faster than other space rocks of its size. The asteroid,…
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The buzz over an ‘alien’ interstellar comet shows how way-out speculation goes viral
An astrophotograph of the interstellar comet known as 3I/ATLAS highlights its green coma and a wandering blue-tinted ion tail. (Copyright Victor Sabet and Julien De Winter, republished with permssion) Is an interstellar spacecraft zooming through our solar system? That’s the big question for fans of unidentified flying objects — and for a researcher at the…
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University of Washington celebrates Rubin Observatory’s debut — and looks ahead
University of Washington astronomer Zeljko Ivezic talks about the Rubin Observatory — a project in which he played a leading role — with an image of the facility displayed behind him. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle) It’s been more than two decades since the University of Washington helped kick off the effort to get the…
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The Rubin Observatory is throwing a big party to reveal its first pictures — and you’re invited
After more than 20 years of planning and construction, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ready for its grand opening, and the world is invited. The observatory in the foothills of the Chilean Andes features a monster of a telescope, with an 8.4-meter-wide (28-foot-wide) mirror, coupled with what’s said to be the world’s largest digital camera. It will survey…
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Software suggests Rubin Observatory will discover millions of solar system objects
A new type of computer simulation predicts that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will discover millions of previously undetected objects in the solar system over the course of the coming decade. The discovery campaign, which is due to begin in earnest later this year, should expand the known small-body populations in the solar…
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Researchers suggest new place to look for microbial life on Mars: ice with bits of dust
The white areas on the edges of these gullies in the Martian region of Terra Sirenium, shown in an image from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, are thought to be areas of dusty ice similar to those identified as potential havens for microbial life in a research study. (Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Univ. of Arizona)…
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‘We have a telescope!’ Rubin Observatory construction team installs its huge mirror
The Simonyi Survey Telescope now has its mirrors and a camera in place. (Credit: Rubin Observatory) The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope in Chile has now been equipped with all three of its mirrors, plus a camera for good measure. Last week’s installation of the telescope’s combined primary/tertiary mirror represented a major…
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Mars Society brings its convention — plus strategies for space startups — to Seattle
Crew members conduct a simulated survey at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah. (Mars Society Photo) What’s the best route to the Red Planet? Hundreds of people are converging on Seattle this week to consider that question at the annual convention of the Mars Society. And the answer may come, at least in part,…