The Astronomy Department will be taking part in Husky Giving Day, an annual philanthropy event at the University of Washington! We are trying to raise funds to support research programs for our undergraduate and graduate students. Watch the video and learn why engaging early in the research in a students career can have a profound […]
Read More »News
A green comet is passing by Earth. Here’s how to see it.
February 1, 2023 | National Geographic, Michael Greshko
“The Zwicky Transient Facility, which found the new green comet, provides a preview of what to expect from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a gigantic facility currently under construction in Chile. Once operational in 2024, it will be the biggest survey telescope ever built, opening up a whole new era of cosmic understanding. “
Read More »Earth’s Orbit Is About to Get More Crowded
January 19, 2023 | EOS | Sarah Scoles
Sometime this coming March, a network of 10 small satellites winged with solar panels is scheduled to launch into Earth’s low orbit. Though likely invisible to the naked eye, the satellites will be part of a future herd of hundreds that, according to the Space Development Agency, or SDA, will bolster the United States’ defense […]
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Ideas for finding ET are getting more inventive
January 19, 2023 | The Economist
The seven-year photobomb: Distant star’s dimming was likely a ‘dusty’ companion getting in the way, astronomers say
January 10, 2023 | UW News | James Urton
UW doctoral student Anastasios “Andy” Tzanidakis announced the discovery of a rare type of binary star system. Tzanidakis and Dr. James Davenport, a UW research assistant professor of astronomy and associate director of the DiRAC Institute, were investigating why the star Gaia17bpp had gradually brightened over a 2 1/2-year period. In some investigative follow-up work, […]
Read More »From Artemis to Webb, take a look back — and a look ahead — at the year’s top trends in aerospace
December 30, 2022 | Alan Boyle | GeekWire
A few years from now, we just might look back at 2022 as Year One for a new age in aerospace: It was the year when NASA’s next-generation space telescope delivered the goods, when NASA’s moon rocket aced its first flight test, and when an all-electric passenger plane built from the ground up took to […]
Read More »Big Data in the Night Sky
December 1, 2022 | Nancy Joseph | UW News
In conversation with James Davenport and 2022 DiRAC Research Prize recipients read more about Vera C. Rubin Observatory and important role of the scientists at the UW’s DiRAC Institute.
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Space, our final dumping ground. Can we clean it up?
October 24, 2022 | KUOW
Last week, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced a new bill calling for the removal of “space junk.” The Orbital Sustainability Act, or the ORBITS Act, aims to promote the development of technology and methods to clean up rocket and satellite debris orbiting Earth.
Read More »LSSTC Catalyst Postdoctoral Fellowship
October 4, 2022 | DiRAC NEWS
Applications are open for the LSSTC Catalyst Postdoctoral Fellowship. UW is one of the eligible host institutions for this exciting program. The “Ideas Lab” virtual info session will be held Oct 6th. Register here.
Read More »The time-lapse telescope that will transform our view of the universe
September 2, 2022 | New Scientist
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will scan the whole southern sky every three nights. From short-lived supernovae to alien megastructures, here are some of the fleeting cosmic phenomena it could capture
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