The torrent of images has not only begun, it’s bringing meta-information: https://www.astronomerstelegram.org/?read=1770317703 Salgundi, A. Andreoni, I. Anumarlapudi, A. et al. AT 2026epw: Discovery of a possible nova from Vera C. Rubin Observatory27 Feb 2026; 21:00 UT In my last update,… Read More »Vera Rubin Update (Mar ‘26)
The March Acta Astronautica (vol. 240) brings us: Szabó, N. O. Sárneczky, K. Kiss, L. L. et al. NEO and imminent impactor discoveries from Hungary: Recent results and lessons learnt Pg 1 .2025.11.055Coates, A. Wheeler, L. Dotson, J. Risk knowledge… Read More »Note, Paper: Detecting, Inspecting… Deflecting?
The “February” issue of Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society brings us: Volume 545, Issue 4, February 2026 Morate,D. Mahlke,M. Álvarez-Candal,A. et al. JaMONCITO: the Javalambre – Moving Objects New Catalog from Investigations of Time-domain Observations staf2052Buendia, E. Valdés,… Read More »Note, Paper: Now Browsing; Then Dousing?
The Vera Rubin Observatory goes live tonight (in a sense). Shakedown operations with the Vera Rubin ‘scope have been going on for months now, finding the last issues and optimizing the procedures for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time.… Read More »Vera Rubin Update (Feb 2026)
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?
As I had briefly mentioned: the Catalina Sky Survey, one of Earth’s premiere asteroid detector systems, is hiring an observatory tech (or two): https://arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/4/home/requisition/24868Survey Operations Specialist, Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (updated) One prerequisite: you’ll be on a mountaintop, in the… Read More »Catalina Sky Survey Hiring
Yes, it’s time again for SBAG (NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group), this time the Winter meeting: 34th Meeting of the NASA Small Bodies Assessment Group (SBAG)January 13–14, 2026 https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/sbagjan2026/technical_program/?session_no=101 Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 8:30 AM8:30 AM Darryl Seligman Early-Career Icebreaker9:25… Read More »2026 Winter SBAG Meeting, 1
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
The purpose of the Roman Space Telescope- if you could boil it down to one- would be cosmology, not small-body science. Yet a wide field of view- at high sensitivity and small pixels- will inherently catch asteroids/comets, without even trying.… Read More »Roman Space Telescope Call(s)