AURA

AURA is a leading organization in developing and operating world-class observatories and #astronomy research #science #telescope #astrophysics @NASA @NSF

[AURA @AURADC]

For those of you who are wondering... Who is AURA?
@SpaceTelescope @NOIRLabAstro @NatSolarObs

[Space Telescope Science Institute @SpaceTelescope]

Astronomers: Join us for the Rocky Worlds DDT Workshop, a community gathering focused on the science enabled by the Rocky Worlds Director's Discretionary Time (DDT) program, at STScI on November 16-18.

Registration closes October 16: https://t.co/9VuuZEUpMz 🔭

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

While mountains give us high-altitude dark skies, they disrupt smooth airflow, forcing the air to break into turbulent pockets. This atmospheric jitter is called "seeing."

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory was intentionally built where coastal airflow passes smoothly over the ridge.

[NOIRLab @NOIRLabAstro]

The Mayall 4-meter took a summer vacation — now it’s back and shinier than ever! 🌞

The NSF Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at @KittPeakNatObs underwent a successful summer shutdown, during which staff recoated its primary mirror with aluminum.

📸KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

[Space Telescope Science Institute @SpaceTelescope]

The contrasting colors in NGC 7129 show differences in temperatures detected by #NASAWebb. The gold cavity at left is hottest due to the central star and other embedded stars. The clumpy, red matter is colder, represents jets from less mature protostars: https://t.co/GlgswWHwhW

[NOIRLab Science @NOIRLabScience]

NSF @NOIRLabAstro The Sun: Our Living Star is now available as an automated Science On a Sphere show. See details here: https://t.co/BjQszy8wKf

[NOIRLab @NOIRLabAstro]

Spooky season has arrived 👻✨

Meet the Ghost of Jupiter, the nickname given to planetary nebula NGC 3242.

📷 T.A. Rector/University of Alaska Anchorage, H. Schweiker/WIYN and L. Frattare and Z. Levay/STScI/AURA/NASA

[AURA @AURADC]

AURA welcomes Dr. Beth Willman, new Interim Director of NSF NOIRLab, who will take over from Dr. Pat McCarthy as AURA searches for a permanent Director. AURA is extremely thankful to Pat McCarthy for his service to NOIRLab & to the astronomical community. https://t.co/MZWcQqjOaw

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

If galaxies had signature dance moves, this one's would be the spiral swirl 💃🌀

Meet Z 36-24, a barred spiral galaxy with two swirly arms. Bars are a common feature in spiral galaxies, where the arms connect to a straight bar of stars across its center.

[Kitt Peak National Observatory @KittPeakNatObs]

Tohono O’odham Open Night at NSF @KittPeakNatObs is in 8 days!
🗓️Sat, 10 Oct, 4:00-9:00 pm
❗️Free event for TON tribal members, closed to the public
🌮Food vendors, cash only
🎶Live music, face painting, Telescope observing + tours
🚐Free transportation

[NOIRLab @NOIRLabAstro]

Golden hour at Cerro Tololo 🌅

For a few minutes each evening, the mountains around NSF @cerrotololo in northern Chile are transformed by the warm light of the setting Sun.

📷 NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/C. Corco

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

It's October 3rd, so we're wearing pink! 🌸

On Cerro Pachón in Chile, nature puts on its own show during twilight, painting the sky and NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory in glowing pink. We can't really enforce a dress code for the cosmos, but the Chilean skies clearly got the memo.

[Hubble @NASAHubble]

Just passing through...

Today, Earth's orbit passes between the Sun and Saturn. That means Saturn is opposite the Sun in our sky, so it's at "opposition" – the perfect time to catch a glimpse of the ringed planet.

For more October skywatching tips: https://t.co/IJbLPf5zuY

[Space Telescope Science Institute @SpaceTelescope]

NEW: A surprising chemical clue has broken open a Hubble cold case from 1999. Astronomers now suspect the mystery signatures in the data are from a second-generation planet that formed from gas and dust ejected by a dying star: https://t.co/EubWIfsXiy 🔭

[Hubble @NASAHubble]

Happy International Music Day! 🎵🦋

Sonifications like this one of the Butterfly Nebula reconceptualize data in images by assigning musical elements to information like position and brightness. ⬇️

[AURA @AURADC]

Happy Anniversary NOIRLab!

[NOIRLab @NOIRLabAstro]

Well, that went by fast 👀

NSF @NOIRLabAstro is turning 7!

In 2019, observatories and programs across Chile, Arizona, and Hawaiʻi came together under NSF NOIRLab as one national center for nighttime astronomy.

Here’s to our amazing staff who make it all possible! 🎉

[NOIRLab Science @NOIRLabScience]

@GeminiObs FT review process has new guidelines on the use of AI, to ensure the confidentiality of each proposal. Please review them here- https://t.co/Js89SfNDUQ

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Not a bad office view🌌

In this image of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, we see the Milky Way plus the ghostly glow of zodiacal light caused by sunlight reflecting off dust in the Solar System.

Zodiacal light is super faint, but Cerro Pachón's dark skies make it possible to see!🌌

[Space Telescope Science Institute @SpaceTelescope]

#NASAWebb has provided a crash course on planet-shattering collisions, providing clues to the amount of energy in their collisions. (1/6) 🧵

[NOIRLab @NOIRLabAstro]

Looks like a pile of glitter? Think much, much older. ✨

This is NGC 6723, a globular cluster also known as the Chandelier Cluster.

📷 Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

[NOIRLab @NOIRLabAstro]

Let’s go, airglow! 🧡
An orange glow hangs over Gemini North on Maunakea in Hawaiʻi. It’s airglow — light from atoms in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Orion and Sirius shine beyond.

📸 International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský