“Like Google for the sky”: Vera Rubin Observatory will map the universe with more detail than ever
October 31, 2023 | Salon.com | Elizabeth Hlavinka
News
DiRAC Presents at the UW Foundation Board
October 11, 2023 | James Davenport (DiRAC)
Last week we were delighted to be able to present in front of the UW Foundation Board at their first meeting of the academic year.
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Group seeks to understand how a new type of satellite will impact Earth-based astronomy
October 3, 2023 | UW News | James Urton
A team of scientists has been tracking a bright object in the sky. But it’s not a star. It’s a new type of commercial satellite. Astronomers are trying to understand how its brightness and transmissions will interfere with Earth-based observations of the universe — and what can be done to minimize these effects as more […]
Read More »BlueWalker 3 satellite is officially one of the brightest objects in the sky
October 2, 2023 | Space.com
“It is unacceptably bright for many sky observers around the world,” Meredith Rawls (UW, DiRAC) co-author of a paper on the finding and member of the IAU Center for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (IAU CPS), told Space.com.
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Astronomers Worry About Bright Object in Night Sky
October 2, 2023 | Newsweek
A new satellite has become one of the brightest objects in the night sky, sparking concerns among scientists for the future of astronomy. Meredith Rawls (UW, DiRAC) is featured.
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To study the cosmos, scientists manage an astronomical amount of data
September 3, 2023 | JAMIE SWENSON | UW Magazine
In northern Chile in 2025, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will begin gathering images of the night sky. “First light” (as astronomers call the moment a telescopic eye first opens) will inaugurate the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)—the most ambitious and comprehensive optical astronomy survey ever undertaken. The UW was one of four […]
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Introducing the 2023 Summer Student Research Prize Winners
August 8, 2023 | DiRAC, James Davenport
Thanks to the generous support of the DiRAC Advisory Board, and the local UW Astronomy community, we are proud to introduce our Student Research Prize Winners for Summer 2023! This year we are excited to award 5 summer prizes, including students across a wide range of astronomy and astrophysics research topics…
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New algorithm ensnares its first ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid
July 31, 2023 | UW News | James Urton
An asteroid discovery algorithm — designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for theVera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky — has identifiedits first “potentially hazardous” asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth’s vicinity thatscientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022SF289, was discovered during a test […]
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Astronomers are using a new supernova to search for alien signals
June 9, 2023 | SPACE | Jonathan O’Callaghan
If any alien civilisations have spotted the new supernova SN 2023ixf in the Pinwheel galaxy, they may use it to try to make contact.
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Secrets of the Stars
May 30, 2023 | UW Story | James Urton
How UW astronomers, the world’s largest telescope and a revolutionary survey of space will upend what we thought we knew about the universe. Full article is featured on the UW Homepage here.
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