Rubin LSST:UK

Did you know the UK is one of the largest international contributors to @VRubinObs, one of the most exciting innovations in astronomy in recent years? LSST:UK includes representation of every astronomy department in the UK. (image: RubinObs/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand)

Really excited to kick off the BBC’s space podcast ‘13 Minutes Presents: Artemis ll’ with myself, Maggie Aderin and @KristinFisher . This is a daily podcast bringing you all the news on the Artemis ll mission as it happens. First episode is out today on @bbcsounds. bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/w… #artemis #launch #moon #astronauts #podcast

The countdown is on! 🚀 Artemis II lifts off tomorrow at 11:24pm BST, sending four astronauts around the Moon. 🌔 The UK is playing a role in NASA's historic return to the Moon, with @goonhillyorg providing critical lunar comms tracking. 📡🌒 Find out how to watch. 👇

Quantum Computing Without A Quantum Computer: online talk, 18 Feb, 3–4pm. Join Oliver Brown, EPCC Quantum Group lead, for an intro to quantum computing, followed by a discussion about how HPC facilities like @ARCHER2_HPC can emulate quantum computers. edin.ac/40e6bF3

The NSF–DOE @VRubinObs has captured this photo of Comet 3I/ATLAS — the 3rd interstellar object ever discovered — 10 days before its official detection on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS survey. 📸: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA Processing: M. Zamani & D. de Martin

✨☁️ Not all clouds block your observations… The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), seen here from Cerro Pachón, might be the exception. Though it looks like a cosmic cloud, the LMC is actually a dwarf galaxy with around 20 billion stars! 😳 📸 NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek

Something’s a little sus… 👀 Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥 Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on @the_zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (& catch the imposters)🔍 👉 zooniverse.org/rubin

The stars spin and the NSF-DOE @VRubinObs prepares to film the greatest cosmic time-lapse ever made. 🎥 Over the next decade, Rubin will capture millions of celestial changes, creating 500 petabytes of data (that’s… a LOT) 🤯 📸 RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/P. Horálek

Back by popular demand! 🐦✨ Enjoy a brand new selection of birds striking poses on the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory's all-sky camera, mounted near the observatory on Cerro Pachón. Safe travels, feathered friends! 🕊️ #FaunaFriday

New video: 'Professor Ian Shipsey FRS: a remarkable scientific legacy' recorded last March when people came together to celebrate the scientific legacy of Professor Ian Shipsey FRS who passed away suddenly in October 2024. Watch now: youtu.be/4WolyivxdGg

Registration for the free Comprehensive Oxford Mathematics and Physics Online School (COMPOS) program for 14 to 17 yrs olds is now open. Thanks to a generous donation, we are able to offer more students a chance to deepen their math and physics knowledge. physics.ox.ac.uk/news/register-…

.@VRubinObs has today released its long-awaited first images of the night sky. Scientists from @DurhamPhysics are playing a leading role in the Rubin Observatory’s 10-year space survey. Learn more: brnw.ch/21wTCfi @NSF @DOEScience @LSSTUK

News | Leicester astronomers play key role in groundbreaking movie of the cosmos by new observatory 👉 le.ac.uk/news/2025/june… #CitizensOfChange | @SpaceParkLeic @PhysicsUoL @LSSTUK

How stunning are these new images from the @VRubinObs Observatory in Chile? 🔭 Our researchers are part of the @LSSTUK consortium, working to interpret the spectacular images captured on the world's largest digital camera 📸 Find out more 🔽 rubinobservatory.org/news/first-ima…

What does a butler have to do with @vrubinobs ? This interviewexplains how the worlds of #astronomy and #cloudcomputing collide in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. 🔭 space.com/technology/cos…

The mountains are calling ⛰️ @nsf-@doescience Rubin Observatory sits at 2647 m (8684 ft) on Cerro Pachón in Chile. Northern Chile offers some of the clearest, driest and darkest skies in the world — ideal for studying the night sky! 🌌 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/about/rubin-in…

A quarter for your thoughts? 🪙 @usmint We think Vera C. Rubin is a great choice to be honored with a quarter... and with an observatory! Rubin was an accomplished astronomer who provided the first convincing evidence of dark matter, influencing a new subfield of astrophysics.

Thinking about how far @VRubinObs has come 😌 💭 As First Look approaches on June 23, 2025 we’re looking back at the hard work and progress that have gone into this project. Exciting times ahead for Rubin! 📸 RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA

Rubin #CommissioningNotes ✍️: On-sky engineering tests continued this week! The team started tuning image quality control systems in real survey-like conditions. LSST Camera is performing smoothly and has captured over 5,000 sky exposures so far (that’s 15 trillion pixels!) 🧵

✨Calling all UK students! The UKCA Harding Essay Competition is now open! ✨ Submit your take on life in the cold and icy universe to UKCA-info@ed.ac.uk 📅 Deadline for essays is the 31st of July 2025 edin.ac/3RFACjv #studentvoices #essaycompetition #astrobiology

If you're new to all things @vrubinobs.bsky.social, check out the new media kit, full of fascinating facts. E.g. the images Rubin will produce are so large that it would take 400 ultra-high-definition televisions to display one of them at full size. rubinobservatory.org/media