Posted on AASNova, an aggregator for publications of AAS (the American Astronomical Society): https://aasnova.org/2026/01/28/monthly-roundup-interstellar-visitor-3i-atlas/Kerry Hensley, 28 January 2026 Monthly Roundup: Interstellar Visitor 3I/ATLAS Spoiler: it’s a comet. The release of chunks that, themselves, release gas (“hyperactivity”) is a bit odd,… Read More »ATLAS Jan Wrapup (…so far)
Kelly Fast, current head of NASA’s PDCO (Planetary Defense Coordination Office), explains IAWN (the International Asteroid Warning Network) in a Nature piece (well, Nature Reviews Physics– a Nature title). https://www.nature.com/articles/s42254-025-00912-7May Chiao, 05 January 2026 Inside the International Asteroid Warning Network… Read More »Nature Interviews Kelly Fast
Just in the latest Nature issue (vol 649 #8098): https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00188-6Michael Eisenstein, 21 January 2026 Seven technologies to watch in 2026 “Scientists excel at discovering limits — and then pushing beyond them.” The illustrious journal Nature cites the pusher, Vera Rubin.… Read More »To Watch the Watchers?
Aired Wednesday night, and also available online- a PBS asteroid documentary: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/asteroids-spark-of-life/Nova: Asteroids: Spark of Life? Earth started off as a barren rock. Somehow, it became inhabitable and inhabited. Here we see some of the possible stages in that process,… Read More »Asteroids: Spark of Life? Documentary
Congratulations to author John Scalzi, newly commemorated with his own asteroid. The small Solar System body (52692) Johnscalzi, formerly under the temporary designation 1998 FO8, was given its permanent name by the IAU earlier this week. Celebrated author John Scalzi… Read More »Written Into The Sky
The call is out for the 2026 Schweickart Prize. The Prize awards the best new student idea in planetary defense, and related asteroid studies. CALL FOR STUDENT PROPOSALS: 2026 SCHWEICKART PRIZEhttps://www.schweickartprize.org/ Deadline: February 4, 2026. Information webinars with live Q&A… Read More »Call for 2026 Schweickart Prize
‘Breaking’: the Vera Rubin Observatory has announced its results on transient detection S251112cm. First detected Nov. 12 by humanity’s gravitational-wave array(s), Vera Rubin had then pursued any optical counterpart at that general location: gcn.nasa.gov/circulars/43257 Rubin imagery begins at Nov. 14.… Read More »Vera Rubin Update (late-Dec ‘25)
Condolences to family, friends, and coworkers of Yannick Mellier, top scientist for the Euclid mission: https://www.euclid-ec.org/yannick-mellier-1958-2025/Yannick Mellier, 1958-2025 It’s easy to forget these are not merely glass-and-carbon-fiber machines. These are the works of people, living, breathing people. It takes the… Read More »Sweeping the Heavens, Meeting the Heavens (Yannick Mellier)
Congratulations to the Vera Rubin Observatory staff, all around, for being named a runner-up for Science magazine’s Breakthrough of the Year, after the boom in renewable energy (i. e., Swanson’s Law): vol. 390 #6779, 18 DecScience’s 2025 Breakthrough of the… Read More »Vera Rubin Up Next For Uprate
Interesting presser from the University of Canterbury, a partner institution with the Vera Rubin Observatory: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/news-and-events/news/2025/kiwi-team-lead–out-of-this-world–study-of-new-comet17 Dec 2025 Kiwi team lead ‘out of this world’ study of new comet A little human interest and behind-the-scenes for our field. Read about… Read More »ATLAS Staff And Handling