Caltech IPAC
banner
caltechipac.bsky.social
Caltech IPAC
@caltechipac.bsky.social
IPAC at Caltech partners with NASA, NSF, JPL, and the worldwide research community to advance the exploration of our Universe. www.ipac.caltech.edu
IPACer @aussiastronomer.bsky.social & team shared the SHERA Mission Concept at #AAS247 🦸‍♀️ 🔭

Searching for Habitable Exoplanets with Relative Astrometry (SHERA) will look for rocky planets in the habitable zones of Sun-like stars for the 1st time & potentially discover the nearest Earth-like planets!
January 16, 2026 at 2:00 AM
We're thrilled to welcome @caltech.edu President-Elect Ray Jayawardhana!

As a grad student, Jayawardhana (a.k.a RayJay) attended the first Michelson Interferometry Summer School in 1999. Today, it lives on as NExScI's Sagan Summer Workshop—and both the workshop and RayJay are still going strong.🔭🚀
January 15, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Go Pandora! 🛰️ 🔭

Like Jessie said, all of the mission data will be archived at NExScI, the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech IPAC!
Now that I can take a breath, I'm SUPER EXCITED we can share that NASA's first Pioneer-class mission, Pandora, is launching this weekend, January 11, at 5:19am!!! I was the Mission Archive Scientist on the proposal, and the NASA Exoplanet Archive will host the mission data.

svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/14945/
NASA Scientific Visualization Studio | NASA’s Pandora Satellite to Explore Exoplanets and Stars
Artist’s concept of NASA’s Pandora mission, which will help scientists untangle the signals from exoplanets’ atmospheres — worlds beyond our solar system — and their stars.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space...
svs.gsfc.nasa.gov
January 14, 2026 at 10:57 PM
At #AAS247, IPAC scientist Andreas Faisst presented at a press conference on Jan. 6. His work shows that early galaxies are maturing faster than researchers previously believed.

"It's like seeing 2-year-old children act like teenagers."

www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/young-g...
@press.aas.org @aas.org
January 14, 2026 at 2:54 AM
Deadline Reminder: Abstracts are due tomorrow, Jan. 14!

RAPID Response: Hot-wiring the Next Generation of Time-Domain Science is only ~2 months away. We can't wait to discuss and hear about exciting time-domain science with you! conference.ipac.caltech.edu/rapid-hotwiring2026/ 🔭
🚨Conference Announcement🚨

The #RAPID #PIT will host a meeting to envision the software+ science powering the time-domain revolution!

RAPID Response: Hot-wiring the Next Generation of Time-Domain Science

📍 Caltech, Pasadena, CA
📅 Mar 23–27, 2026
🔗 bit.ly/47bBgxz
January 13, 2026 at 8:22 PM
2 IPAC-related sessions? 2 much fun!

Check out the #AAS247 Roman RAPID session and the Euclid Q1 session, both at 10am MT today! 🔭🔭

📍Roman: 226 C
📍Euclid: 225 B

www.ipac.caltech.edu/page/aas247

@aas.org @press.aas.org
IPAC at Winter AAS 2026
The 247th American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting is being held January 4-8, 2026, in Phoenix, Arizona. This page contains the schedule and links to activities that feature IPAC staff, scientists...
www.ipac.caltech.edu
January 8, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
Packed splinter session at #AAS247 for the announcement of The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Observatory System—a modular, rapid-response network of four novel observatories designed to democratize access to the cosmos.

Read more about the initiatives here: www.schmidtsciences.org/focus-area-a...
January 7, 2026 at 11:05 PM
Educators + students present at #AAS247!

NITARP continues its 20-year program of pairing educators with astronomers for year-long, authentic research projects using NASA data. They presented their results to fellow researchers at IPAC's booth.🚀🔭📊
www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/teachin...
January 7, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
More Astrophysics for More People ✨

Join us for a virtual #AAS247 session and a first look at The Schmidt Observatory System—a new network of ground and space-based initiatives designed to break the traditional limits of discovery.

📆 Jan 7 | 3-5:30pm MT / 5-7:30pm ET
Register here: buff.ly/kbbNFuB
January 5, 2026 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
Meet Roman experts to learn more about the mission, learn about the Cycle 1 Call for Proposals (due March 17), and get some stickers! 👾

Come visit the NASA, STScI, and IPAC booths in Phoenix Convention Exhibit Hall throughout the week.

#AAS247 #ExpandOurView #NASARoman
January 5, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Are you at #AAS247 & interested in submitting a Roman proposal? 🔭

Come to the "Roman Space Telescope Proposal and Science Planning" splinter session Tuesday Jan. 6 at 10:0am - 12:00pm MT.

Find the call for proposals here: roman-docs.ipac.caltech.edu/roman-propos...
@nancyromansci.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 3:55 PM
IPAC has landed in the desert 🏜️

Come say hello to your favorite science and data center in the expo hall at #AAS247 in Phoenix, AZ!

@aas.org @press.aas.org 🔭
January 6, 2026 at 3:34 PM
⭐️ ⛄️ Happy Holidays from IPAC! ❄️ 🪐

While we get excited to celebrate 40 years of IPAC at Caltech in 2026, we're looking back at some of the highlights of 2025.

Check them out here: www.ipac.caltech.edu/holiday-card 🔭
December 24, 2025 at 8:12 PM
NASA’s SPHEREx space telescope has completed its first infrared map of the entire sky!
This is the most comprehensive spectral view of the infrared sky, with 102 colors (or wavelengths) of infrared light from observations made between May and December 2025.
🧪 ⚛️ 🔭
December 23, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
🚀The Roman Cycle 1 Call for Proposals is OPEN!

Unlock new discoveries with the Wide Field Instrument—your science starts here! Apply for funding to analyze Roman data, perform theory/lab research, and propose new observations. 🔭☄️

📅 Deadline: Mar 17, 2026 (5 PM PDT)
📝 bit.ly/4q3jbbL
December 10, 2025 at 5:01 PM
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now fully assembled! 🔧

roman.ipac.caltech.edu/news/nasa-co...

IPAC hosts the Roman Science Support Center, conducting Coronagraph Instrument operations, data processing, proposal management, and community engagement.

🧪 ⚛️ 🔭 @nancyromansci.bsky.social
December 10, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
Congratulations to @caltechipac.bsky.social on its fortieth anniversary! Kudos to IPAC for leading the science operations, data processing, community support, and archiving for many missions and observatories over the years, with many more to come! Stay tuned as IPAC celebrates through 2026.
December 10, 2025 at 9:48 PM
How do we hot-wire the transient universe to enable breakthrough science?🤔🔌💡

The time-domain community is invited to a meeting by the
NASA Roman Alerts Promptly from Image Differencing (RAPID) team. Abstract submission and registration are now open!

conference.ipac.caltech.edu/rapid-hotwir...
November 7, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reminder: Today is the last day to register for this #AAS247 workshop.
🚀OpenUniverse2024 Hands-on Workshop at #AAS247

Work with simulated NASA Roman & @vrubinobs.bsky.social data and learn to:
💫 Access wide-field & time-domain sims
📊 Visualize with Firefly + Astropy
🧠 Prototype science workflows w/ Jupyter Notebooks

Register by 11/7👉 aas.org/meetings/aas247/workshops
November 7, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
Join us to learn why Pasadena is the "City of Astronomy" for a free afternoon of science demonstrations, solar telescopes, and public-level presentations on black holes, exoplanets, galaxies, space weather, and AI!
Sunday, November 16 Noon-4PM

www.cityofastronomy.org
November 7, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Caltech IPAC
#ESAEuclid peers through a dark cloud’s dusty veil to reveal a place teeming with very young stars ✨

While investigating the nature of the dark Universe, Euclid is also delivering observations such as this one that enable research in different fields of astronomy 👉 www.esa.int/ESA_Multimed... 🔭
November 5, 2025 at 9:41 AM
🚀OpenUniverse2024 Hands-on Workshop at #AAS247

Work with simulated NASA Roman & @vrubinobs.bsky.social data and learn to:
💫 Access wide-field & time-domain sims
📊 Visualize with Firefly + Astropy
🧠 Prototype science workflows w/ Jupyter Notebooks

Register by 11/7👉 aas.org/meetings/aas247/workshops
October 23, 2025 at 10:49 PM
The official number of exoplanets has surpassed 6,000! And you can access data on all 6,007 of them right here at IPAC 📈 🪐

Watch the video & read all about the center of the exoplanet universe (also known as NExScI!) here:
www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/the-nas...
September 18, 2025 at 12:19 AM
The NASA/IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) is celebrating 20 years of high school teachers & students doing astronomy research at IPAC!

“NITARP changed my life,” said one teacher who participated in the program.

Read more great quotes here:
www.ipac.caltech.edu/news/20-year...
September 6, 2025 at 1:23 AM
These images, taken a year apart, show how supernova SN2018gv faded over time. The High-Latitude Time-Domain Survey by NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will spot 1000s of supernovae, including a type that can be used to measure the universe's expansion.
roman.ipac.caltech.edu/news/nasa-ro...
August 21, 2025 at 12:02 AM