Happy May the 4th! A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…gamma-ray burst 151229A occurred, the biggest explosions since the Big Bang!!

📷1: GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Chu/J. Pollard
📷2: GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. da Silva, M. Zamani
📷3: GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Check out the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope under the Milky Way🌌 and @Geminiobs South using its laser guide star and adaptive optics to improve image clarity. noirlab.edu/public/images/…

Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinsky

🌟 Join our team as a Student Assistant! 🛠️ If you have skills in SolidWorks modeling and want to work alongside engineers on cool projects like upgrading the Mayall telescope 🌌, then we want YOU! Apply now: bit.ly/4aHwbN1
#NowHiring

🛠Calling all mechanical engineering students! Want to gain valuable experience organizing electronic files & working with the Kitt Peak Vault? We're looking for a student assistant to join our team for a temporary full-time position for the summer. Apply: bit.ly/3UtfAqo

#AsteroidInstitute together with @GoogleCloud, we've identified 27,500 new asteroids using NOIRLab data, propelling us into a new era of asteroid discovery thanks to our donors! bit.ly/3Wni8rC

#AsteroidDiscovery #spaceexploration #TechInnovation #GoogleCloud

What goes into preparing Rubin's 8.4-meter mirror glass to get its reflective coating? Quite a lot, it turns out!

Learn about the preparation process in Part 4 of the 'Making of Rubin 's 8.4-meter Mirror' ✨

Are you familiar with the Planet Hunters project? More than 15,000 armchair astronomers helped discover 2 candidate Jupiter-sized exoplanets. Follow-up observations on the Gemini Observatory South🔭revealed that these are not your average exoplanets ➡️Queen's University Belfast 🎓: qub.ac.uk/News/Allnews/2…

Have you met the Gemini Observatory twins? Operated by U.S. National Science Foundation @NOIRLabastro, Gemini South sits at 2715m on Cerro Pachón in Chile 🇨🇱 and Gemini North sits at 4200m near the summit of Maunakea, mid-Pacific🏔️🌊. Their dual-hemisphere locations allow them to survey the entire sky!🌌

This aerial drone view shows the Southwest Ridge of the U.S. National Science Foundation Kitt Peak National Observatory, a Program of U.S. National Science Foundation @NOIRLabastro, recovering from the Contreras Fire that reached the observatory grounds in June 2022. 📷KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld noirlab.edu/public/images/…