2023 will be filled with opportunities to share with you our research and enthusiasm while the Rubin Observatory construction is marching towards completion.

DiRAC will host various events and lectures throughout the year. We invite you to join UW astronomers in conversations, ask questions and learn about discoveries we anticipate when Rubin begins its observations.

On March 1st, 2023, we are hosting a Planetarium Experience and Institute Tour called “A New Era of Discovery: Mapping the Universe with the Rubin Observatory”. Join us at this special event to meet our team, and learn what is to come from the most powerful sky survey telescope ever built.

On April 6th, 2023, we will again be participating in the Husky Giving Day! In 2022, we piloted DiRAC Research Prize for Undergraduate Research, a paid summer research opportunity for UW undergraduates that will continue in summer 2023. This Prize was made possible by generous funding provided by DiRAC supporters during the DiRAC Husky Giving Day 2022 campaign. This April, we are excited to expand the HGD participation to all of the Astronomy Department, with an eye on adding another program geared towards incoming graduate students. Those two programs will enhance the experience and offer a unique opportunity to our undergraduate and graduate cohorts.

This will be an important year of transition for us: after nearly a decade of building Rubin, we set our sights on delivering some of the first Rubin science from here at UW. We also continue building algorithms and software needed so everyone can utilize this remarkable dataset, democratizing opportunities with astronomical big data + ML. Our wonderful students, postdocs, staff researchers, and engineers make all these advances possible. They are supported from both public and private sources, including tremendous backing by foundations and individuals from Seattle and the Pacific Northwest. As we ramp-up for Rubin, DiRAC research and discoveries will more than ever be enabled by your continued support. Join us and participate in the next wave of astronomical discoveries from UW. Let’s make the Rubin Observatory a defining astronomical instruments of this decade, together.

For more lectures and events please visit our website or sign up for the DiRAC newsletter.

Thank you,

Mario Juric
Director, DiRAC Institute
Professor, Department of Astronomy