More interstellar-object coverage, not necessarily peer-reviewed science output, but more substantial than just lay prose: www.gemini.edu/news/press-releases/noirlab2522July 15, 2025 Josie Fenske Gemini North Observes Comet 3I/ATLAS www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-interstellar-object-3i-atlass-biggest-mysteries-explained/July 16, 2025 Jonathan O’Callaghan 7 Big Mysteries about Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Apologies for the… Read More »3I/ATLAS: Small-Body Copy
Since we’re talking about an object penetrating our Solar System from other parts of the galaxy, it was inevitable that this would draw wider media coverage. That coverage: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HeTCmtNJSUJul 3, 2025 Scott Manley We Just Discovered The Fastest Interstellar Comet… Read More »3I/ATLAS Patch
Just in at Science magazine: the rush to observe interstellar object 3I/ATLAS. https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-race-study-interstellar-interloper11 Jul 2025 Adam Mann Astronomers race to study interstellar interloper z1ju4jb We have a few brief months to study this example of material from another system. In… Read More »3I/ATLAS Wrangling
The coverage and hoopla around the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have died down a bit. Mentioned briefly in the First Look Event was the Skyviewer “app” (actually an interactive website, skyviewer.app), which includes a sonification tool (Skysynth). This site/app allows… Read More »Vera Rubin Uploading
The University of Hawaii announced on Friday that the UKIRT telescope on Maunakea is, officially, to be decommissioned: https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2025/06/27/uh-to-decommission-3rd-maunakea-telescope/ UKIRT once stood for “United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope.” Which may have you thinking, “wait- why is the University of Hawaii telling… Read More »Infrared Telescope ‘Insolvent’
Okay, one more Rubin Observatory post: gizmodo.com/rubin-observatorys-stunning-result-proves-its-a-game-changer-for-spotting-dangerous-asteroids-2000621581 I’ve already posted that the Vera Rubin Observatory will be– and now demonstrates it is– the new and undisputed champion of asteroid discovery. Let the conspiracy theory nuts take heed: NASA is not… Read More »Vera Rubin Upstanding
2024 YR4 aside (no, it will NOT kill you), we should give asteroids their proper due. Asteroids are clues left over from the early Solar System, and contain presolar grains (crystals that predate the Sun and planets). Asteroids (the NEOs-… Read More »Happy Asteroid Day!
Clearly, no shortage of press about the Vera Rubin Observatory, but: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/23/science/rubin-telescope-asteroids.htmKenneth Chang Jun 23 Vera Rubin Telescope Quickly Found 1,200 New Asteroids …this one’s of particular relevance here. There was a Times story on Vera Rubin in general, and… Read More »Vera Rubin Upholding
The press conference for the first release of images from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory just wrapped. Granted, the embargo lifted at midnight this morning, so news outlets already posted their stories with the two ‘glamour shots’. Still, there… Read More »Vera Rubin Release: M49, Trifid/Lagoon
No shortage of coverage for Vera Rubin, but… https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2025-06-22/vera-rubin-observatory-universe-never-before/105442694Ellen Phiddian The Vera C Rubin Observatory is about to show us the universe like never before …this one is abc-relevant, and I don’t mean the publisher. ABC is Australia’s equivalent of the… Read More »Vera Rubin Down Under