However, inefficient use of light has detrimental effects. It can disrupt night-sky astronomy, as well as our own ecosystems. Participate in to help monitor and preserve the night sky! 🌌
Credit: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Chu
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NOIRLab
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NSF’s NOIRLab is the preeminent US national center for ground-based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy. Para español siga a
NOIRLab’s Tweets
Happy #InternationalDayofLight! On this day in 1960, Theodore Maiman successfully operated the first laser. Short for ‘light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation’, they are commonly used even by observatories like North to make discoveries in astronomy. 🔆
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Whew, that's some heavy lifting 💪
Our staff recently moved the giant 72-ton mirror cell assembly from the observatory maintenance floor up to the dome floor.
There, they installed it onto the telescope mount for the first time!
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A ring of debris named RCW 86 is all that remains of a white dwarf star that exploded more than 1,800 years ago and was recorded by Chinese astronomers in the year 185 as a "guest star." Now we can see it. bit.ly/3OewfLt
📸
#NSFfunded
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Standing tall on the horizon the complex in Chile is an astronomy icon that provides a platform for access to the southern hemisphere for worldwide scientific research! Check out this view of some of the more than 40 🔭 there
📷:CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Matsopoulos
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/ North staff provided some fun and educational activities during the recent Astroday Hilo. Community members were invited to visit our booth, talk story with local astronomers, build their homemade spectroscope, fold interstellar origami & more! 💫🔭🤩🪐
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Awe-inspiring views! 🌅 Check out this incredible sunset from Cerro Pachón with the South telescope. No matter how many times we see it, we never tire of the beautiful colors of the sky! 🌈 #sunsetgoals ow.ly/lMrB50OmE4t
📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Paredes
![Sunset at Gemini Observatory South telescope in Cerro Pachón, Chile. The sky is filled with clouds that are pink and orange in color]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fv8Jfd0XwAAC3sS?format=jpg&name=4096x4096)
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We’re getting close to #InternationalDayofLight! Help us monitor light pollution with our program . It’s so easy- just monitor the nighttime brightness of your area from a computer, tablet, or smartphone 📲. globeatnight.org
#LetsSaveTheNight
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We had a blast visiting Andacollo in Chile participating in the 2nd Education & Protection of the Skies Summit 2023! We enjoyed sharing our workshops about the Solar System 🪐🧑🚀, and so much more w/ the students of the Patricio Lynch school.
📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
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Zodiacal light emanating from the horizon intersects with the Milky Way on the right hand side of the image.
Credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský
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What a colorful night! This 📷was taken at a Program of ’s , with a beautiful backdrop behind the Bok 2.3-meter 🔭. Distant city lights, cars, airglow & the arc of the Milky Way all add to the variety of colors. noirlab.edu/public/images/🧵
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What are your plans for July to August? Observe the night sky at with the exclusive Overnight Telescope Observing Program! This custom program gives you the full observatory experience and makes up to 4 guests visiting astronomers🔭📷
Book: bit.ly/3LzX7ml
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Earth's fate in 5 billion years?
For the first time, astronomers using an telescope saw a dying star swallow an exoplanet. From such observations, we learn about stellar evolution.
bit.ly/44JgGSa
📷 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick/M. Zamani
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This major milestone means that Rubin Observatory is on track to help probe the mysteries of dark matter, study the fundamental nature of dark energy, document the dynamic Universe, and explore other grand challenges of cosmology. Credit: /AURA/DOE/NSF
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Check this great interview to Dr. Dara Norman, President-elect and 's Community Science and Data Center (CSDC) Deputy Director ⬇️ ✨
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An Interview with AAS President-Elect Dara Norman
Ashley Walker sat down w/ AAS President-Elect Dara Norman to discuss the path that led her to #astronomy, the mentors who influenced her, and what she aims to accomplish during her term as AAS president. aas.org/posts/news/202
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Bonus round: What was the first-imaged black hole? 💫
- M87* from Messier 8766.7%
- Gargantua (Interstellar)33.3%
9 votesFinal results
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What kind of black hole is commonly at the center of galaxies? 🌌
- Supermassive black holes100%
- Small black holes0%
10 votesFinal results
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Why are black holes black? ⚫
- They eat a lot of stars20%
- Light cannot escape them80%
5 votesFinal results
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Thanks for joining us for #BlackHoleWeek, and happy #SpaceDay! We hope you enjoyed learning about the spectacular world of black holes. Let’s close the week with 's astronomer 's favorite thing about black holes, and some trivia in the thread below! ✨
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Are you looking for a dynamic full-time administrative role in Tucson, AZ? is hiring an Executive Assistant! Embrace this opportunity to exercise your initiative, judgment & discretion. Available flexible hybrid work arrangements. Apply here: bit.ly/448oOex
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Also with North, astronomers discovered the closest black hole at 1600 light-years away from Earth in a binary system with a Sun-like star. ⭐ #BlackHoleWeek
noirlab.edu/public/news/no
📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva/Spaceengine/M. Zamani
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The most powerful GRB was detected — from the birth of a black hole — by ’s space telescopes and North. 💥
noirlab.edu/public/news/no
📷: /NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. O'Connor & J. Rastinejad & W Fong/T.A. Rector, J. Miller, M. Zamani & D. de Martin
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From extreme gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) to neighboring binary systems, ’s has made a handful of groundbreaking discoveries when it comes to black holes in the last year. Check out our thread for two noteworthy ones for #BlackHoleWeek! 🧵
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Take control of your #career and become a Senior Travel Coordinator for AURA! Apply today!
ow.ly/xYqq50NjiUv
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There are a lot of astronomical firsts at the moment… and I for one cannot get enough of them… especially when research such as this from comes with another of those gorgeous artist impressions…
researchaether.com/space-uncovere
#astronomy #stars #galaxies #universe
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Credit Image 3:
CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA Acknowledgments: PI: M. Soraisam (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/NSF's NOIRLab) Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF’s NOIRLab), M. Zamani (NSF’s NOIRLab) & D. de Martin (NSF’s NOIRLab)
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Credit Image 2:
KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Acknowledgments: PI: M.T. Patterson (New Mexico State University) Image processing: Travis Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), Mahdi Zamani & Davide de Martin
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Credit Image 1:
International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA Image processing: T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), J. Miller (Gemini Observatory/NSF's NOIRLab), M. Zamani & D. de Martin
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Astronomers are using facilities operated by to look for things that happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...✨
#Maythe4thbewithyou
#StarWarsDay
#StarWarsCelebration
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Replying to
What’s the most massive black hole we’ve found? TON 618 lives at the center of a galaxy over 10 billion light-years away and tips the scales at 66 billion times the Sun’s mass. Meet some other record-setting black holes here: universe.nasa.gov/black-holes/ba #BlackHoleWeek
GIF
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About 6.2 miles west is the mountain Cerro Tololo where the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter 🔭sits (far right in the image). Both peaks have telescopes that are part of , a Program of ’s .
📸: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Srba ( )
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Look at those telescopes 🔎🔭! Looking southward across 62 miles of the Andean mountains in Chile, several telescopes dot the peaks on the horizon. On top of Cerro Pachón (center background), from left to right, are the SOAR Telescope, the South telescope &
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Did you know that black holes can also grow? ’s astronomer chimes in with two ways how a black hole can increase its size! #BlackHoleWeek
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Black holes are incredibly diverse, and much more abundant than you think. One even resides at the center of the Milky Way: Sgr A*! Join ’s postdoc this #BlackHoleWeek on a journey into the world of black holes, and the kinds out there. 🌌
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Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick/M. Zamani
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This never-before-seen process may herald the ultimate fate of Earth when our own Sun nears the end of its life in ~five billion years.
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The “smoking gun” of this event was seen in a long and low-energy outburst from the star — the telltale signature of a planet skimming along a star’s surface.
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#AstroNews: Astronomers using the South telescope in Chile, operated by , have observed the first evidence of a dying Sun-like star engulfing an exoplanet. 🧵⬇️
noirlab.edu/public/news/no
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