“Over the last decade, many astronomers, like me, have conducted painstaking studies to develop trust in machine learning.” Aritra Ghosh, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington, is one of those astronomers.
News Category: Media
Decoding the universe
UW astronomy undergrads use cutting-edge coding skills to help scientists make the most of discoveries from a revolutionary new telescope.
Stargazers advised to seek dark skies for optimal meteor shower viewing
The Perseid meteor shower will peak on the night of Sunday, Aug. 11. DiRAC’s James Davenport is featured.
Vera C. Rubin Observatory Project Includes Bremerton Resident
Erin Howard (DiRAC researcher, and member of the Rubin Observatory Data Management Team) is featured in this profile by the Kitsap Sun, by Audrey Nelson.
Huge Survey vs. Tiny Space Junk
As construction continues on the Vera Rubin Observatory, the skies above its mountaintop home grow more and more crowded following every rocket launch. Astronomers, conscious of the plans for mega-constellations of new satellites in the next few years, are rightfully worried: will these satellites and the tiny bits of debris that come with every deployment and collision affect the new telescope’s long-awaited, gigantic survey?
Read more about this research featuring DiRAC Fellow Meredith Rawls at AAS Nova!
Lucy in the Sky with Debris
Earlier this year, DiRAC Fellows Meredith Rawls, Dino Bektešević, and Colin Orion Chandler contributed interviews and satellite-streaked telescope images to an interdisciplinary research and visual art project on the visibility of orbital debris by artist Isabella Ong and curator Seet Yun Teng. The project included an exhibition during April 2024 in Singapore. Isabella originally reached out to Meredith and Dino due to their past work on Trailblazer, an initiative to collect images with known satellite streaks.
- Learn more about the project on their website, Lucy in the Sky with Debris.
- Contribute your own satellite observations to SatHub by joining the IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS).
“Like Google for the sky”: Vera Rubin Observatory will map the universe with more detail than ever
Group seeks to understand how a new type of satellite will impact Earth-based astronomy
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 of these satellites are launched.
In a paper published Oct. 2 in Nature, the team reports its first detailed assessment on how the satellite — BlueWalker 3 — could impact astronomy.
BlueWalker 3 satellite is officially one of the brightest objects in the sky
“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.
Astronomers Worry About Bright Object in Night Sky
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.