By Jonathan O’Callaghan on June 30, 2021 Read the full article in Scientific American. The comet is also a taste of what is to come in the near future of solar system astronomy. In October 2023 a new telescope in Chile called the Vera…
D I R A C I n s t i t u t e
Data Intensive Research in Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Washington
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Asteroid Day LIVE 2021
Tune in June 30th at asteroidday.org
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Streak of lights over Pacific Northwest was Falcon 9 rocket debris
Dr. James Davenport, research assistant professor of astronomy at the UW and DiRAC associate director explains the current event in the KING 5 news coverage.
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Top-End Assembly (TEA) on the Summit
A major milestone was reached in the construction of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory last week. See the VIDEO here. The “Top End Assembly”, which holds the secondary mirror (M2), was lowered into place within the massive enclosure.
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Astronomers document the rise and fall of a rarely observed stellar dance
A team led by Dr. James Davenport, analyzed more than 125 years of observations of HS Hydra, and showed how this system has changed dramatically over the course of just a few generations.
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DiRAC & Astronomy on Tap Seattle Present: ASTRONOMY AT HOME
Join us again on Sep, 22, 2021! All past talks are available on the DiRAC YouTube channel https://dirac.us/yt
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Quanta Magazine’s Interview with Prof. Mario Juric
Prepping for a Flood of Heavenly Bodies
Just as mathematics transformed physics from a philosophy into a science, data and computation are transforming science today, says Mario Jurić. He’s leading the push to get astronomy ready for the torrents of data that are about to flow. -
Collaborative, participant-driven learning works!
Science has become a big-data endeavor. But scientists are not universally adept in “data science” — the computing and statistical skillsets needed to handle, sort, analyze and draw conclusions from big data. The shortage of know-how in data science can…
Big Data Analytics in Astronomy
From fundamental research on the most energetic events in the universe to the search for asteroids that may one day impact the Earth, the science of the next decade will be driven by data. Our ability to make scientific breakthroughs will…
Research
DiRAC brings together researchers from Astrophysics, Computer Science & Engineering, Statistics, and other key disciplines to develop algorithms and infrastructure to process, analyze, and understand the science and questions arising from major astronomical imaging telescopes (e.g. LSST, MWA, SKA, Advanced…
People
DiRAC is creating an environment where scientists can harness interdisciplinary expertise to solve some of the most difficult questions facing Astronomy today. It provides an interaction space between Astrophysics, Computer Science, Statistics, and other disciplines. It is a place where ideas…
Talks & News
Asteroids in the inner solar system by Dr. Sarah Greenstreet
Observations and computer simulations of their orbits and interactions with planets yield insights into the asteroids’ dynamic lives. People tend to think of the solar system as a static environment, in which the orbits of the planets, asteroids, and comets…
Asteroid Day LIVE 2021
Tune in June 30th at asteroidday.org
Letter From the Director
As we come to a close of a challenging but scientifically exciting academic year, I’m delighted to share in this newsletter some of the work and discoveries made by DiRAC researchers over the past months. We start with a profile…
DiRAC & Astronomy on Tap Seattle Present: ASTRONOMY AT HOME
Join us again on Sep, 22, 2021! All past talks are available on the DiRAC YouTube channel https://dirac.us/yt
List of publications
ADS link features recently published papers by DIRAC researchers.