Fall quarter is my favorite time of the year at the University. We get to welcome our new graduate students, undergrads come back to the campus, and the work of teaching, research, and engaging the community begins in earnest. This is the time when new ideas begin to take shape, projects start, and everything seems possible.
We are pleased to welcome Nick Tusay, who joined the team this September as a DiRAC Postdoctoral Fellow. Nick focuses on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) and habitable worlds research.
After the highly successful Rubin First Look press conference on June 23, 2025 in Washington D.C., where the first Rubin images were shared with the press and public, the Project focused on science verification and validation, and preparations for a series of Construction Completeness Reviews.
The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s First Look media event that took place on June 23, 2025 in which the first LSST Camera commissioning images were released, included the announcement of its first asteroid discoveries – 2,103 discoveries in all.
DiRAC postdoctoral scholar Colin Orion Chandler is leading innovative efforts to explore small bodies in our Solar System using the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
In August 2025, Meredith Rawls, UW/DiRAC Research Scientist and Co-Lead of SatHub at the IAU Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky (CPS), and Brianna Smart, UW/DiRAC Research Scientist, attended an NSF-funded workshop on satellite constellations and Rubin Observatory at UC Davis.
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Our work — from outreach, education, to fundamental research — is made possible in no small part by contributions from supporters like you. Thank you for all of your past support; it has truly made a difference. As you consider your charitable donations this year, I hope you will consider supporting the work of DiRAC — enabling our students and postdocs to engage in the next generation of discovery!
