iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

In radio telescope news... A webinar from UKSRC on 20 October introduces ValSKA, built to extract robust science from the Square Kilometre Array (SKA). Hear more about ukSRC’s emerging framework for reproducible, simulation-driven science validation. Register at tinyurl.com/39vy9nt7

Bird's eye view of SKA-Low station
S8 with two completed stations. Image taken in June, 2024.

190

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

What’s this? @chrislintott.bsky.social on the What Did You Do Yesterday podcast? Get a peek into the life of an astrophysicist, author and broadcaster, from dusk til dawn. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/w... 🔭

Chris Lintott on the What Did You Do Yesterday podcast pictured between presenters Max Rushden and David O’Doherty.

272

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Studying diffuse dwarf galaxies helps us understand how galaxies form. A new @vrubinobs.bsky.social x @zooniverse.bsky.social project seeks the keen-eyed to identify two kinds of objects in the M49 region of the Virgo Cluster: diffuse galaxies and blue blobs: 🔭 www.zooniverse.org/projects/mik...

This map shows the entire M49 field from the DP2 SkyViewer preview

140

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

At the @vrubinobs.bsky.social , snow clearing continues under bright blue skies. So good to see how progress is being made at the summit following the devastating recent snow storms. Power is being restored and services are coming back online. Watch this space... 🌞 ❄️ 🔭

An image of the Rubin Observatory. The sky is deep blue and clear. There is a road winding up to the building. It is clear and is lined with deep snow.

1142

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Looking for a reason to avoid the next task on your to-do list? Try a one-minute sky survey! Space Surveyors is a new game from @vrubinobs.bsky.social Seek out stars, galaxies, supernovae, comets, asteroids and watch out for the clouds! 🔭 spacesurveyors.app

A screenshot of the Space Surveyors game showing an animated night sky with clouds crossing it. In the sky there are star-shaped objects and and airplanes. There is a grid that the player moves across the sky, its shape is modelled after the focal plane of Rubin’s 3200 megapixel camera.

030

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Who’s up for a game? 🔭 imgs.xkcd.com/comics/vera_...

A playful bingo card of discoveries by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

0154

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

"The best thing about my job? There's always more data!" We asked research software engineer Manu Antony of @physicsastronomyed.bsky.social about the challenge of working on @vrubinobs.bsky.social. As a big fan of big data, he's up for the challenge. Find out more: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-07... 🔭

040

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Scientists aren't the only inhabitants of Cerro Pachón, home to the @vrubinobs.bsky.social 🔭 Find out who else you can find at the summit, from dulcet songbirds to basking viscachas. rubinobservatory.org/gallery/coll...

With their long ears and fluffy tails, viscachas are often mistaken for rabbits, but they're actually rodents, more closely related to chinchillas. During the day, viscachas can often be found foraging for food or stretched out on sun-warmed rocks.

1162

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Give your desktop a glow up with some cosmic wallpaper. The breathtaking @vrubinobs.bsky.social Ocean of Stars image is available here, optimised for different screen sizes: rubinobservatory.org/gallery/coll... 🔭 📷 Image credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

This 1.7-gigapixel image of a field of stars in the constellation Lupus showcases the unprecedented view of the Universe that NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory gives us. Equipped with the LSST Camera — the largest digital camera in the world — Rubin combines a wide view of the sky with the ability to detect extremely faint objects. With this capability, Rubin can reveal details of the cosmos across an enormous range of scales, from distant galaxies, to individual stars, to the wispy clouds of dust spread throughout our galaxy.

The faint, glowing clouds spread across this image are galactic cirrus: clouds of interstellar gas and dust that can be seen in the foreground of the Milky Way. Rubin’s ability to capture scenes like this in unmatched detail will open new windows into the structure of our galaxy and the Universe beyond it.

Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

081

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

The LSST will run for a decade – just how much sky can Rubin cover in a week? This map shows a representative week for the LSST. The tile colour represents the filter used for each exposure (u, g, r, i, z, and y), revealing how @vrubinobs.bsky.social will build a multicolour map of the Universe. 🔭

The color of the tile represents the filter used for each exposure (u, g, r, i, z, and y), revealing how Rubin rapidly builds a multicolour map of the Universe.

191

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Here's a map of the location of the previous ‘Ocean of Stars’ image in the southern sky. Credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani 🔭

This map shows the location of the previous image in the southern sky.
Credit: E. Slawik/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Zamani

060

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Who knew clouds of dust and hints of far-off galaxies could be so mesmerising? The @vrubinobs.bsky.social LSST has begun and we’re here for the ride! This project is decades in the making, and the hard work of thousands of people around the world. Read more: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-06... 🔭

The faint, glowing clouds spread across this image are galactic cirrus: clouds of interstellar gas and dust that can be seen in the foreground of the Milky Way.

1214

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

If you're bombarded with up to 7 million alerts a night, it's good to have a shortcut. Developed in the UK, the Lasair data broker filters millions of events from the @vrubinobs.bsky.social alerts stream in almost real time. Get to grips with it and hunt down transients at lasair.lsst.ac.uk 🔭

This artist’s illustration represents the start of the alert stream from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The summit facility is shown on a rocky ridge. The night sky features stars and the glittering band of the Milky Way Galaxy. The sky is populated with multiple alert “pings,” representing individual alerts from Rubin that something in the sky has changed in brightness or position. Different icons represent various types of alerts, including asteroids, supernovae, active galactic nuclei, and variable stars

1121

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

How do you go from studying bone marrow stem cells to supporting @vrubinobs.bsky.social science? Our colleague Timothy Noble, a Senior Developer and Systems Administrator, tells us more 🔭 www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-05...:

030

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Can you imagine having the vision to build an observatory that will create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our Universe? 30 years ago, astronomer Tony Tyson did. And now he's being honoured in the TIME100 list. www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-05...

Tony Tyson. The visionary astronomer has been named one of the 100 most influential people on the planet.

040

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

The inspiring Prof Hiranya Peiris holds the Professorship of Astrophysics (1909) @cam.ac.uk. She recently sat down with @jimalkhalili.bsky.social to talk all things astronomy, including about her work on the LSST. Read more and listen to the episode: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-04...

071

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

It’s a sunny start to our All Hands Meeting in Manchester today. We’re teaming up with @eucliduk.bsky.social for a week of discussion, discovery and networking. 🔭

A screen shot of a weather app showing that it’s 11 degrees in Manchester. With sunny intervals and light winds.

140

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Want some lunchtime reading: how about some of the latest #astronomy research published by team members in @rasjournals.bsky.social ? The latest two papers explore mitigation for catalogue-based angular power spectra and isophote shape analysis: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-04... 🔭

161

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

How does a software engineer find himself working on one of the world's most exciting astronomy projects? We asked one of our team members, Eduardo Toledo Romero, to find out. Read the interview here 🔭 : www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-03...

Research software engineer Eduardo Toledo Romero is based at University of Edinburgh.

010

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

This compilation contains 5 examples of alerts. Each alert includes 3 images – template, new, and subtracted image. The supernova itself — not seen in the template image — is clearly revealed in the center of the difference image. 🔭

Each alert includes three “postage stamp” images — the left shows the template image, the center shows the new image, and the right shows the subtracted, or difference, image. The object of interest for a particular alert is centered in the images. In the case of the supernova alert at the bottom, the bright spots in the upper left corners of the template and new images are the center of the supernova’s host galaxy. The supernova itself — not seen in the template image — is clearly revealed in the center of the difference image. Alert images with classifications provided by ALeRCE & Lasair.

050

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

Hunting down supernovae in near real time! Last night, the UK data broker Lasair ingested and rapidly processed 800,000 alerts as the @vrubinobs.bsky.social public alerts stream began! Now anyone can observe astronomical events as they unfold thanks to Rubin’s data brokers. What a milestone! 🔭

A graphic showing the Rubin Observatory as a white observatory building on a dark hilltop. The night sky is in the background, with data alerts dotted across the sky.

35211

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

We catch up with Héloïse Stevence @sydonahi.bsky.social to talk astronomy and machine learning – and discover how many Rubin images this Schmidt AI in Science Fellow can classify per minute with the human eye. Read our latest In the Spotlight interview: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-02... 🔭

Dr Héloïse Stevence is a Schmidt AI in Science Fellow at the University of Oxford.

0105

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Starting 2026 with a bang! @vrubinobs.bsky.social has spotted an asteroid the size of 8 American football fields! And the first peer-reviewed paper using LSST Camera data has been published. Read more: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2026-01... 🔭

Artist’s illustration of 2025 MN45. Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/P. Marenfeld

1111

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

As the LSST:UK team starts to wind down to enjoy a few days of rest and relaxation, we wish you all a happy and peaceful festive season. 📷 NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/F. Bruno

Snowfall blanketed the mountains of northern Chile on August 4, 2024, including Cerro Pachón, where Rubin Observatory is located.

070

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Did you know? When scientists began brainstorming @vrubinobs.bsky.social 3 decades ago, they had the title Dark Matter Telescope in mind? With its wide field of view and sensitivity to the faintest objects, Rubin will reveal how dark matter and dark energy shape the universe. 🔭 #darkmatterday.

View of Rubin Observatory at sunset in May 2024, on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

173

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

Listen up! The @physicsastronomyed.bsky.social Career Development Scholarship provides full PhD funding for students from a Black heritage, including mixed Black background. Deadline to apply is 24 November 2025. UK & international prospective students can apply. 🔭 www.ph.ed.ac.uk/studying/pos...

Screenshot of the web page for the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy, outlining the Career Development Scholarship. The fund provides full PhD funding for students from a Black heritage, including mixed Black background.

021

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

Get to know the people working in the UK to make the @vrubinobs.bsky.social LSST happen. We caught up with @cfrohmaier.bsky.social to find out more about his work with @4most-eu.bsky.social TiDES and what he's looking forward to most about the Rubin survey 🔭 www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

A graphic featuring a headhsot and a quote from Dr Christopher Frohmaier

072

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

We sat down with team member Astha to find out what fuels her passion for the Universe. Learn what she'd be doing if she wasn't exploring the low surface brightness frontier. Find out more in our interview: www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2025-09... 🔭

We sat down with team member Astha to learn what fuels her passion for learning about the Universe. Find our more in our interview.

042

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Lasair is one of the 7 independent brokers that will ingest and process @vrubinobs.bsky.social data, and serve astronomical alerts to the broader scientific community. We asked Lasair team member Roy Williams of @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social what inspires his work 🔭 www.lsst.ac.uk/news/2025-08...

151

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Have you downloaded the @vrubinobs.bsky.social Orbitviewer App yet? It gives you access to detailed information about planets, dwarf planets, near-earth objects, main belt asteroids, trans-Neptunian objects, comets, interstellar objects, and much more. Start exploring now! orbitviewer.app/en/ 🔭

Orbitviewer is designed to showcase the incredible number of Solar System objects revealed by Rubin Observatory

081

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

Aside from Ghostbusters, is the secondary mirror on @vrubinobs.bsky.social the coolest thing ever made in New York? Corning Inc, its co-makers, have been nominated for the Coolest Thing Made in New York Manufacturing Contest! 🔭 Find out more about the mirror: rubinobservatory.org/news/seconda...

On July 24, 2024, Vera C. Rubin Observatory's 3.5-meter secondary mirror was installed onto the Simonyi Survey Telescope. The installation was successfully completed after installing the mirror onto its support cell and moving the combined structure from Rubin's maintenance floor up to the dome level via the heavy-load platform lift. The secondary mirror is the first piece of glass to be installed into its final position on the telescope.

180

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

Lots of Rubin action at @nam25-durham.bsky.social this week, including @grahamsmithastro.bsky.social who'll be giving an overview of the @vrubinobs.bsky.social /LSST Science Collaborations, and what data to expect when as commissioning is completed and the survey begins. 🔭

National Astronomy Meeting Durham University 2025

080

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

We also got a snapshot of Vera’s research with Kent Ford - the flat galaxy rotation curves that provided an important piece of evidence for the existence of dark matter. 🔭

080

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

At today’s Cheltenham Science Festival event on @vrubinobs.bsky.social, @apontzen.bsky.social‬ asked the questions while Hiranya Peiris and ‪@chrislintott.bsky.social‬ explained why Rubin is unique and shared their excitement about the opportunities that the forthcoming data will provide 🔭

The Vera C Ruben event at the Cheltenham Science Festival

172

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

An international team led by @megschwamb.bsky.social has forecast some of astonishing numbers of objects that @vrubinobs.bsky.social will map. Meet 'Sorcha' - new open source software created by the team to predict which small bodies will be discovered by Rubin. Find out more at sorcha.space 🔭

3164

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Date for your diaries: 23 June! That's the first time we'll be able to look at the cosmos with @vrubinobs.bsky.social Find out more and book yourself a Watch Party! 🔭https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-first-look

Host a Rubin First Look Watch Party graphic

2103

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

Good news if you're a fan of websites... we've relaunched ours! If you're curious about what we do and how the UK is contributing to @vrubinobs.bsky.social, take a look! www.lsst.ac.uk 🔭

A screenshot of the relaunched LSST:UK website showing the homepage with the title How the UK is helping to capture the cosmos.

053

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

As @vrubinobs.bsky.social nears completion, we're bracing ourselves for the onslaught of data. The UK is hosting one of Rubin's data facilities, in @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social @lancasteruni.bsky.social and RAL. Find out more about Rubin's data challenges here: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-d...

EPCC installs a new hypervisor, that will serve new virtual machines to the Somerville cloud

132

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

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 🔭

A selection of pages form the Rubin media kit

193

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Cheltenham Science Fest is on the horizon. On 7 June, listen to @apontzen.bsky.social @chrislintott.bsky.social & Hiranya Peiris discuss what the @vrubinobs.bsky.social high-definition time-lapse movie can teach us about the cosmos: www.cheltenhamfestivals.org/events/the-v... #capturethecosmos 🔭

A screenshot of the promotion for the Vera Rubin Observatory event at the Cheltenham Science Festival. It features three images – one of each of the event participants and the date and time of the event: Sat 7 Jun, 4.30pm

010

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Like the @vrubinobs.bsky.social, the LSST Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Science Collaboration is gearing up for the start of operations. In July they are holding a 'Supermassive Black Hole Studies in the Legacy Survey of Space and Time' workshop. Find out more here: agn.science.lsst.org/meeting2025

020

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

It's been a while since we posted a picture of the mighty LSST camera so here goes... This was taken last month, when it was moved from the summit clean room and attached to the camera rotator for the first time. 🔭 Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA

An image of an extremely large camera. The black cylindrical lens os resting on a white stand.

0120

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Excited to see that the European Astronomical Society (EAS) is running a special session on Rubin at its Annual Meeting in June 2025. The EAS is welcoming abstract submissions from all scientists, whether familiar with @vrubinobs.bsky.social or new faces. Read more: eas.unige.ch/EAS2025/sess... 🔭

Poster for the European Astronomical Meeting Annual Meeting. The text is on a green background with an image of University College Cork. The Meeting takes place on 23-27 June 2025.

093

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Three more days of National #Astronomy Week to go and today's theme is the swirling mass of gas known as Jupiter. Find out more and trace Jupilter's moons over the next three nights at astronomyweek.org.uk/7-february-t...

A visualisation of Jupiter and its moons over the nights of 7-9 February 2025

061

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Watch @chrislintott.bsky.social as he introduces National #Astronomy Week 2025. It's running from 1-9 February with more than 250 events around the UK, and you can even get involved online. We're getting ready to chase the moon! youtu.be/-p0OG61WFDk 🔭

A screenshot of a video of Professor Chris Lintott introducing National Astronomy Week 2025

060

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

We're getting ready for National Astronomy Week from 1-9 February, are you? This year the theme is Chasing the Moon and there are lots of ways to get involved. Find out more and download resources (such as this chart for tracking the moon) at astronomyweek.org.uk #NAW2025 🔭

A chart to plot the moon for National Astronomy Week 2025

0262

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 24/12/2024

Here's the team at @vrubinobs.bsky.social sharing a (non-alcoholic) toast to celebrate the test camera taking its first on-sky data One of the most exciting days this year on Cerro Pachon. Here’s to 2025, when the celebrations will ramp up again! Credit: RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R. Gill

041

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Want to get to grips with the many acronyms related to @vrubinobs.bsky.social LSST? Check out this handy list of acronyms, from AGN to ZTF: www.lsst.org/scientists/g... #astronomy

A pile of wooden Scrabble tiles, some are face up and bear letters and score numbers, others are face down and blank

020

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Did you know that less than 60% of LGBTQ+ people in STEM are out? Today is LGBTQ+ STEM Day so why not check out these resources to understand more about the LGBTQ+ community working in STEM prideinstem.org/resources-2/ #Astronomy #PrideinSTEM

0161

Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Are you a media-shy UK-based researcher who wants to understand the press and collaborate to get better science news out there? This event on media skills for researchers from the Science Media Centre will explain how to collaborate with the media – and it's free! shorturl.at/Z1USy #astronomy

An image of a brain in pink and green, with the words Welcome to the Science Media Centre to the right on a black background.

052