UW researchers join national effort to streamline AI-driven cosmology

July 22, 2026 | UW News

A view of the cosmos captured by the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. A new collaboration between the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University will create shared tools that allow researchers to work across massive, distributed datasets — such as those created by the Rubin Observatory — to accelerate discoveries about the universe. Photo: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Modern astronomy is producing more data than ever before. Powerful telescopes — like the Simonyi Survey Telescope at the DOE-NSF Vera C. Rubin Observatory — and other instruments around the world are collecting detailed information about billions of stars, galaxies and other cosmic objects.