The Vera Rubin Observatory is built, and preparing to start its Legacy Survey of Space and Time. These preparations, with early trials looking okay, are mainly fine tuning of optical parameters and data processes. But there’s a non-main process: targets… Read More »Vera Rubin Update (Nov)
Now out in New Scientist, vol. 268 #3569: Richard Binzel, 15 November 2025 “We don’t want to keep an asteroid secret, because then no one ever trusts you” p. 38 This week’s interview is with astronomer Richard (Rick) Binzel, well-known… Read More »NEO-Binzel New-Interview
The November edition of MNRAS (actually three “issues”) is now up: Volume 543, Issue 3, November Huang, C. Wu, Y. Yu, Y. Force chains bias the dynamic response to impacts in rubble-pile asteroids Pg 2523 staf1575Matsuoka, R. N. Kuramoto, K. Origin… Read More »Note, Paper: Bits Whizz, Near and Far
The 6th COSPAR (Committee on Space Research) Symposium is taking place in Nicosia, Cyprus (no, I didn’t fly there) this Nov 3-7: https://www.cospar-assembly.org/symposia/ COSPAR: a bit of a big deal. Therefore, their meeting is big. Maybe too big; I’ll try… Read More »2025 COSPAR Symposium, Nicosia
As of this week (Oct. 28), the Vera Rubin Observatory staff has declared the project “construction complete”, and begun operations (“Early Operations”, to be explicit). In physical terms, this doesn’t mean much. In legal terms, this means that telescope checkouts… Read More »Vera Rubin Ready!
It’s the day before Halloween, but Space Sci Rev (vol. 221) makes it feel like Christmas: Horányi, M. Tucker, S. Sternovsky, Z. et al. Interstellar Dust Experiment (IDEX) OnboardNASA’s Interstellar Mapping And Acceleration Probe (IMAP) art. 102 s11214-025-01230-1Wang, Y. Zhang,… Read More »Space Science Reviews, …whew
Of late, in Planetary Science Journal (all vol.6): Salazar Manzano, L. E. Gerdes, D. W. Napier, K. J. et al. Prospects of a New L5 Trojan Flyby Target for the Lucy Mission 213 adf5c2Dorsey, R. C. Hopkins, M. J. Bannister,… Read More »Note, Paper: PSJ Particle Population Post
In case you hadn’t already marked your calendar: the Rubin Users Committee will meet on Monday: https://rubinobservatory.org/events/rubin-users-committee-2025a-meeting Rubin Users Committee 2025B Meeting, Oct 27, 8 AM – 10 AM PDT This is your chance to give feedback on initial performance,… Read More »Vera Rubin Users Meeting, Monday
Everybody’s getting in on planetary science; LPSC was the first but is no longer the only game in ‘town’. The Planetary Science Conference 2025 starts tomorrow, Krakow, Poland, until Oct 25: https://mars.uj.edu.pl/index.php/planetary-science-conference/planetary-scienceconference-2025/ As per this blog, my pick of relevant… Read More »Polish Planetary Science Conference
No less than Nature (actually Nature Astronomy, still within the Nature family) states: -, Big realities for small bodies 1407 s41550-025-02701-9 Couldn’t have put it better myself. This is an editorial introduction to the October issue (vol. 9), in which… Read More »“Big Realities for Small Bodies”