We are thrilled to welcome Einstein Fellows Frank Qu and Dhayaa Anbanjagane to KIPAC! science.nasa.gov/missions/hub...

We kicked off our 2026 Rubin Series with a talk at College of San Mateo. One of our grad students, Theo Schutt brought the universe to 70+ people with stunning First Look images from @VRubinObs. Stay tuned for our next stop at De Anza College on April 23! kipac.stanford.edu/news/kipacs-...

What an exciting moment for all of us here @kipac.bsky.social and SLAC! Decades of contributions from our members current and past have made this new engine for astrophysical discovery possible. We can't wait to see what's waiting to be uncovered in the @vrubinobs.bsky.social alert stream!

The largest spot-the-difference effort EVER has begun!🚨 On the night of Feb 24, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory officially released its first ~800,000 public alerts of detected changes in the night sky!🔍 A new era of discovery is here✨ 🔭🧪☄️ 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/first-a...

Ever wondered how we study the very beginning of the Universe? Join us tomorrow at 7:00 PM PT to learn how information from galaxies helps scientists infer the infant stages of the Universe! Attend in person or online — register for free at bit.ly/cosmology-feb11

Congratulations to our very own Berni Ried-Guachalla on taking 1st place in the Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science 2025 Video Contest! Check out the video here: m.youtube.com/watch?v=kna3...

Ever wondered how we study the very beginning of the Universe? Join us on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7:00 PM PT to learn how information from galaxies helps scientists infer the infant stages of the Universe! Attend in person or online — register for free at bit.ly/cosmology-feb11

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to quantum technology, which can revolutionize many fields of research. In her upcoming public lecture, Dr. Chelsea Bartram will discuss how quantum sensing is being used to detect dark matter candidates. bit.ly/quantum-dec2

We welcomed over 50 students from high schools in East San José to campus for physics demonstration activities, a catered lunch, and a tour of campus, all led by our volunteers! This field trip was part of our ongoing partnership with the ESUHSD!

On Tuesday, we went to Independence High School in East San José as part of our ongoing partnership with the East Side Union High School District. We had a great time talking to many students and families about our outreach programs!

Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Collaboration: DESI Collaboration Wins 2026 Berkeley Prize www.desi.lbl.gov/2025/08/25/d...

Excited to announce that we were just awarded 3 KICK grants from the @kavlifoundation.org to work on new materials to detect dark matter, test pulsar radiation effects om detectors in space, and constrain inflation in the early universe! www.kavlifoundation.org/news/variety...

☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System! NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once full science operations begin later this year! 🔭🧪

We were seeing red (in a good way) last week during our stargazing event at the Stanford Student Observatory:

Vera Rubin, the namesake of @VRubinObs.bsky.social was a trailblazer and prolific astronomer born on July 23rd, 1928. If you're interested in learning how she inspired @risawechsler.bsky.social, check out her 2017 article for @teenvogue.com: www.teenvogue.com/story/how-pr...

It's like the holidays in July...our first week-long workshop after the first NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory image reveal! 🎁 We're one week out from the Rubin Community Workshop in Tucson, and we can't wait for five days of rich discussions & observatory updates! #Rubin2025 🔭🧪

KIPAC scientists are excited to get our hands on data from @VRubinObs.bsky.social and we had an event last week to help us analyze it! Our Rubin Data Exploration Day event had speakers and workshops for scientists of all career stages. Check out some photos from the event:

@pbs.org SpaceTime just featured Noémie Globus and Roger Blandford's paper, "The Chiral Puzzle of Life" which suggests that Cosmic Rays could contribute to homochirality of RNA molecules: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wZP...

If you're interested in learning more about cosmic neutrino detectors, galactic magnetic fields, or the evolution of the cosmos, come check out our latest research highlight about the role particles play in the universe! kipac.stanford.edu/highlights/bey…

Peter Michelson was just recognized by the European Space Agency for his work on @NASAFermi, an instrument that has completely transformed high-energy astrophysics! news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/0…

We had a great time talking to members of the public @calacademy.bsky.social this past weekend about how @VRubinObs.bsky.social is going to transform cosmology over the next decade! Sign up for our mailing list to hear about future events: bit.ly/KIPAC_outreach

Over 600 people showed up at Hewlett to hear from KIPAC scientists about @vrubinobs.bsky.social at our special public lecture event on Tuesday! The full event is now on YouTube in case you missed it: www.youtube.com/live/9R9lIkQ...

KIPAC is teaming up with California Academy of Sciences this Saturday to celebrate the First Look from @VRubinObs.bsky.social! 🤩 Join our scientists for short talks on how Rubin is uniquely poised to transform multiple sub-fields of astronomy. 🔭✨ More info: www.calacademy.org/events/progr...

@vrubinobs.bsky.social's first images using the world’s largest digital camera was featured on @kpixtv.bsky.social. @risawechsler.bsky.social, Director of @kipac.bsky.social said, "It makes me very, very excited about the future of astrophysics." bit.ly/4loJ3wi @stanforduniversity.bsky.social

Stunned by the first images released from the @Vrubinobs.bsky.social? Join us on July 1 for a special event where key project leads and scientists share why this observatory is so special and how it will help us study the changing sky, and our own Milky Way. RSVP: bit.ly/rubin-july1

@vrubinobs.bsky.social was also featured in the @nytimes.com headline podcast (scroll to 8 minutes in to hear about @vrubinobs.bsky.social ): podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

@Stanford.edu put together a great video summarizing our watch party for First Look, and the profound impact @vrubinobs.bsky.social will have on cosmology research over the coming decade: news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

Travis Lange and Phil Marshall sat down yesterday with KQED to talk about their work at SLAC to develop the camera for the @vrubinobs.bsky.social and its implications for cosmology research over the next decade: www.kqed.org/science/1997...

Two decades ago, Stanford and SLAC took a gamble on an unproven telescope design that had no funding, no home, and no official backing. Now, with first images in hand and full operations on the horizon, that bet is on the verge of paying off.

Check out this article from National Geographic to hear from @caganze.bsky.social and other scientists who worked hard to make the @vrubinobs.bsky.social and its massive camera a reality: www.nationalgeographic.com/science/arti...

💫 Breaking: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory just released its first images using the powerful LSST camera and they are spectacular! @kipac.bsky.social played a major role in building the camera that will uncover dark matter, dark energy & more. 🔗: bit.ly/40fnFBs #KavliAstro @vrubinobs.bsky.social

Twenty years ago, Stanford and SLAC took a big gamble. Today, it's finally starting to pay off, as the world's largest digital camera opened it's shutter for the first time. news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

The first images from @vrubinobs.bsky.social are stunning! It took 7 hours to take this image of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas, and this is a great sign of things to come for Rubin over the next decade! Check out this story to learn more: www6.slac.stanford.edu/news/2025-06...

Tune in on YouTube for the full reveal 👀 www.youtube.com/live/Zv22_Am...

Turning on the world's largest camera @vrubinobs.bsky.social is much more complicated than just flipping a switch -- it's the culmination of years of meticulous planning and takes a large team making sure that everything is mission ready for first look tomorrow: rubinobservatory.org/news/prepari...

Check out this article from the @nytimes.com to learn more about the camera our scientists at SLAC helped make for the @vrubinobs.bsky.social , which we expect will he able to catalog 20 billion galaxies and 17 billion stars over the next decade starting this Monday: www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

‼️We're just TWO DAYS from Rubin's first images! #RubinFirstLook‼️ So let's talk images📷 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera — the largest digital camera ever built — produces 3200-megapixel images... 🔭🧪 But what does that mean, exactly? 🤨 📷: J. Orrell/SLAC Lab

Congratulations to Risa Wechsler on being elected to the National Academy of Sciences in recognition of her distinguished and continuing achievements in original research www.nasonline.org/news/2025-na...

At the frontier of discovery—inside our own galaxy. Members of the Via Project gathered at Yale for an all-hands meeting. We are proud to support this groundbreaking effort to unlock new insights into dark matter, cold gas, and the structure of our galaxy. #KavliAstro via-project.org

Pictured 👆: Kavli Program Officer Greg Mack with Risa Wechsler (KIPAC), Marla Geha (Yale), and Charlie Conroy (Harvard/CfA, Project PI along with Ana Bonanca of Carnegie, not pictured). @kipac.bsky.social @harvard.edu @carnegiescience.bsky.social

Thousands of people joined us for our KIPAC + Friends Community Day this past weekend, checking out dozens of activity booths and talks hosted by KIPAC and our partners! Sign up for our mailing list to hear about future events: bit.ly/KIPAC_outreach

Now the team has an intense period of testing and tuning work to ensure the system functions reliably at its full capabilities to #CaptureTheCosmos. We’re on track for our grand reveal coming mid-2025! 🔭🧪 For more technical details: ow.ly/A4wu50VCIB4

Eye to the sky…on-sky engineering tests have begun at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory using the world’s largest digital camera! 🔭🧪 After installing and testing the LSST Camera, we turned the telescope to the sky—a moment 20 years in the making! With that, Rubin #CommissioningNotes are back ✍️ 🧵

Join us for our biggest event of the year, KIPAC (+ friends) Community Day, on Saturday April 19th from 1-5pm! Come enjoy 30+ hands-on STEM activities, demos & mini-lectures. Register here: bit.ly/community-da... for a chance to win a meteorite

In the SF Bay Area? Mark your calendars for this year's @kipac.bsky.social Community Day at Stanford! April 17th in the Science & Engineering Quad on the main Stanford Campus. #KIPAC #science #outreach #Stanford

Noches Astronómicas, our Spanish outreach program, is having an event this evening at Andrew Hill HS in San José! Si quieres aprender sobre los asteroides, las planetas más grandes de nuestra sistema solar, o el observatorio Rubin, te esperamos en Noches Astronómicas esta noche: bit.ly/noches-3abril

Leaders in science & the arts gathered at a AAA&S reception to celebrate scientific discovery! Kavli President Cynthia Friend joined #KavliPrize and Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne, @kipac.bsky.social Director Risa Wechsler & Nobel Laureate Andrea Ghez, who was honored with the Rumford Prize. #KavliAstro

Lights, camera, action! The world's largest digital camera has been installed at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! 🤩 The LSST Camera was the final major component of the observatory. With it in place, Rubin officially enters its final phase of testing!🔭 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/lsst-camera-installed

Incoming! The LSST camera has been installed at @vrubinobs.bsky.social - a huge step forwards for our project to #CaptureTheCosmos rubinobservatory.org/news/lsst-ca... 🔭

World's largest camera installed on the NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory 🔭 in Chile! @vrubinobs.bsky.social noirlab.edu/public/news/...