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"I have to emphasise how lucky I was. Because when we started this project, everybody realised this was maybe a good idea, but very few thought it would work, including myself." A wonderfully modest quote from Nobel Prize winning Prof Francis Halzen. 🔭 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

'Ghost particles' from space telescope wins 2026 Nobel Prize in Physics

Belgian physicist Prof Francis Halzen has won for his pioneering work on an observatory that detects particles from space.

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"She was a brilliant scientist." –– Vera Rubin In 2010, Rubin published her recollections of Charlotte Moore Sitterly in the Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage. articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-...

The title and intro section of the article read:
Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 13(2), 145-148 (2010).
CHARLOTTE MOORE SITTERLY
Vera C. Rubin
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of
Washington, Washington, DC, USA.
E-mail: vrubin@ciw.edu
Abstract: Charlotte Moore Sitterly was a scientist in an era when it was rare for a woman to have the opportunity to
devote her life to forefront science. Following her graduation from Swarthmore College in 1920, she accepted a
position at Princeton University as an assistant to Henry Norris Russell. In 1925 she started a study of the solar
spectrum. She could then not know that she would devote much of her scientific career to gathering basic atomic
data that are invaluable to the scientific community, even today. In 1931 she obtained a Ph.D. degree at the
University of California, Berkeley, and returned to Princeton as a staff member of the Princeton University Observa-
tory. In 1945 Moore moved to the National Bureau of Standards (NBS), to supervise preparation of the widely-used
tables of atomic energy levels. Following the successful launching (1946) of a V2 rocket to obtain the ultraviolet
spectrum of the Sun, she started working also with Richard Tousey and his group at the Naval Research Laboratory
(NRL). Ultimately, they extended the solar spectrum down to 2200 angstroms. She continued her affiliations with
both the NBS and the NRL until her death in 1990. Charlotte Moore was a rare scientist who devoted her career to
obtaining accurate numbers, thus enabling the scientific community to open her tables and know that the data are
reliable.
Keywords: Sitterly, Moore, multiplet tables.

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Robert "The Bobby Yaga" McNees @mcnees.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Astrophysicist Charlotte Moore Sitterly was born #OTD in 1898. She compiled extensive data on optical and later UV spectra, and her spectroscopic tables are still in use today. 🧪 ⚛️ 🔭 👩‍🔬 Image: AIP Emilio Segrè Visual Archives / Michael A. Duncan

Photo portrait of a young Charlotte Moore Sitterly taken some time in 1919, when she was 20 or 21 years old. Her hair is pulled back and she is wearing glasses and a white top with a wide collar. She is looking to the side of the camera. The photo is sepia-toned.

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Rubin LSST:UK @lsstuk.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Have you watched the latest @greshamcollege.bsky.social lecture from @chrislintott.bsky.social yet? It's a thrilling ride from the early days of @vrubinobs.bsky.social to some of the latest images and insights. Watch it now! 🔭 youtu.be/VUJU6PjO5HE?...

youtu.be

The Sky at Night, Tonight: A New View of the Changing Sky - Chris Lintott

YouTube video by Gresham College

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

NASA picture of the day today is a real 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿beauty! This is a composite image of the ~5000yo Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis. The amazing Giuseppe Petricca has only gone and photographed the Sun at noon there, every few days, for a whole year. #Dedication 🔭🧪👌 ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/image-articl...

The imposing Callanish Stones stand talk with their shadows spanning out across the glass. It's a super clear sky, but looks cold. Above the central stone is a strange figure-of-8 shape of dots. This is the location of the Sun, at noon, on various different days across the year.

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Jodrell Bank @jodrellbank.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

🍂✨ It's officially (astronomical) Autumn! 🌍 At the autumn equinox, the Sun shines directly above the Earth's equator, so day and night become nearly equal in length everywhere around the world. 🍁 The 2026 autumnal equinox occurred today at 1.06am BST

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Michelle Collins @runningastronomer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

It's that time of year again... Garden telescope time! 🤩🔭

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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.

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

The image map shows the entire M49 field from the DP2 SkyViewer preview. Credit: SF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

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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

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Jonathan O'Callaghan @astrojonny.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory should be able to spot oceans on Earth-like alien worlds, if the geometry is just right. Plus: rainbows! (maybe) Story by me in New Scientist www.newscientist.com/article/2588...

newscientist.com

NASA’s next major telescope might see alien oceans and rainbows | New Scientist

The upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory should be able to spot the glint of water on habitable planets, and maybe more

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

Who's up for a trip to Edinburgh!? 🔭 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🪐

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

📷 NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

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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.

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

The LSST:UK has a Junior Associates Network (JAN). The community of LSST:UK Consortium junior associates share knowledge, collaborate, mentor and promote their work as they get grips with the large data volumes coming from the @vrubinobs.bsky.social in LSST. 🤝 lsst-uk.atlassian.net/wiki/x/T4AuAQE

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 30/08/2026

This morning's launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope from the Kennedy Space Center was amazing! Roman is now on a million-mile journey to Lagrange point 2, where it will soon reveal the universe’s darkest secrets: go.nasa.gov/4qIa69I #NASARoman 🔭 Credit: J. Barrientes/STScI.

A rocket is launching into the sky from a launch pad, emitting bright flames and smoke. Trees are visible in the foreground.

Crowd capturing a SpaceX rocket launch with smartphones, against a sunrise sky.

A rocket launches into a cloudy sky, emitting a bright trail of light and smoke.

A rocket with a fiery trail ascending into a clear blue sky, leaving a thick plume of white smoke underneath.

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 30/08/2026

A new set of eyes is heading for the cosmos! 🚀🔭 Congrats to NASA, Space Telescope Science Institute (our sister org in AURA Astronomy), and all on the launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope! 🎉 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory and Roman together will give us complementary views of the cosmos🌟

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Space Telescope Science Institute @stsci.edu · 30/08/2026

Hello, the telescope is named after Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, NASA's first Chief of Astronomy and championed for the Hubble Space Telescope. You can learn more about Dr. Roman below. 🔭

science.nasa.gov

Who is Nancy Grace Roman? - NASA Science

Known as the "mother of the Hubble Space Telescope," Nancy Grace Roman was born May 16, 1925 in Nashville, Tennessee, and died December 25, 2018.

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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.

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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

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Jonathan O'Callaghan @astrojonny.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Fun paper on when to submit your paper to arXiv Main finding? Don't submit on the weekend (if you want max citations) arxiv.org/abs/2608.11268

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Agata Rożek @agastro.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Eclipse vibes 🌚🌞 🇪🇸

Partial solar eclipse as seen projected through a colander. The shadow of the colander is cast on a cream umbrella and the holes are projections og the Sun partially obscured by the Moon, looking like someone took a bite

Children looking at eclipse through proper exlipse glasses. The sun is a bright blob in the distance

People looking at eclipse, the Moon casts wide shadow on the sky and Earth

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Dr Dan Jones @hookean.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

My favourite photo from this evening 😊 #iTeachPhysics #Science 🧪 #Astronomy 🔭

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Andy Lawrence @e-astronomer.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

showing the sun to the assembled masses #astronomy

myself in blue and white checked shirt holding phone showing live image of Sun. Seestar telescope on the ground to the left. City observatory behind.

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Celeste Labedz @celestelabedz.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

I wouldn't call myself a cartoonist, but I had the vision and just needed it to be on paper to the best of my ability.

A hand drawn eight panel cartoon. First two panels are a colander sitting frowning on a shelf. Then the colander is frowning straining pasta, then three more panels of frowning sitting on a shelf. Then a big panel where it's projecting a bunch of crescent eclipse shapes and smiling with speech bubbles around saying "Wow! Look! Amazing! Beautiful!" And then one final panel where it's sitting on a shelf smiling.

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European Space Agency @esa.int · 11/08/2026

Join us on Wednesday for live coverage of the total solar eclipse! Live from Javalambre, Spain, from 19:30 CEST with: 🎤 interviews 📹 explainers 🔭 telescope feeds 🚁 drone shots 🔴 live feeds from different locations Details: www.esa.int/Science_Expl... #EuropeanSolarEclipse

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Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Happy solar eclipse day! ☀️🌒 This evening people across the UK will be treated to the country's fullest solar eclipse since 1999. Around 90-96% of the Sun will be obscured by the Moon at the peak, which will take place at around 19:00 BST, depending on where you are. Are you going to watch it? 😎

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Met office cloud cover forecast for the partial #eclipse 12th Aug 😠 Still time for the weather Gods to change their minds, but if not it'll be a case of all the Northerners heading South for a day trip to Swansea. 🔭

A map of the UK with cloud cover for 19:00 on the 12th August. All of Ireland and Scotland are covered in cloud. The word BOO has been annotated over the clouds

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

If you haven't sourced a pair of #eclipse glasses for the upcoming #solareclipse, fear not: just find yourself some leafy trees to sit under (cat optional). Top photo @rainorshine99.bsky.social 🤩

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Jonathan O'Callaghan @astrojonny.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Would love to know if there's anyone living in this remote part of northern Russia that might see the start of the 12 August eclipse next week.

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ESO @eso.org · 07/08/2026

😎 Eye safety mode: ON! Excited about next week's #SolarEclipse? We too! But whether you'll be watching a total or partial eclipse, make sure you observe it safely. Here's what you need to know to enjoy the event without putting your eyesight at risk 👇 🔭

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ESO @eso.org · 05/08/2026

Earlier today, the discarded upper stage of a Falcon 9 rocket impacted on the Moon. As part of a coordinated observing campaign, our Very Large Telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for 5-10 minutes after impact. 🔭 🧪 📷 ESO/C. Schmidt et al. 1/4

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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... 🔭

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

I'm absolutely devastated for colleagues at Jodrell Bank who found out this morning that funding for the UK's e-MERLIN radio telescope array will be terminated. This is a short-sighted move, to save a tiny fraction of the overall UK science budget. #SaveJodrellBank 🔭🧪 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.uk

Jodrell Bank's Lovell telescope faces axe in science cuts, BBC understands

Astronomers warn it would tear the heart out of UK science, and leave a generation untrained.

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Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans @astroroyalscot.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Think of all the awesome science-ing we could do with an extra £20M......🧪

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 22/07/2026

Severe Storms Impacting NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Operations in Chile Chile has been impacted by an exceptionally powerful storm with heavy precipitation and widespread flooding affecting the communities where many of our colleagues live. 🔭🧪☄️ 🧵

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · 23/07/2026

On this day in 1928, Dr. Vera C. Rubin was born 🔭🧪 At 14, she built her first telescope out of a cardboard tube. Her work provided the first convincing evidence of dark matter, & scientists' quest to understand dark matter led to the idea that became NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory 🌌

A composite image showing Dr. Vera Rubin in grayscale standing at a large telescope, with Rubin Observatory in teal in the background atop its rocky summit site.

Grayscale woman with short hair and glasses uses a tabletop instrument.

Woman with short white hair and glasses leaning against a marble wall.

A young Vera Rubin with shoulder-length hair looking through a telescope at Vassar College around 1947 in a black and white photo.

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

📷 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/G. Meneses Soto

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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.

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