Epic handshake meme, with "Primary school children" and "Professional scientists/engineers" bonding over "Making a poster about your work".
The program for the SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation conference in July has been released. My paper (on the MAVIS Science Instruments) got accepted but I didn't get a talk slot, which means I get to make a poster again.
#SPIEastro #SPIE2026 […]
[Original post on aus.social]
Promotional image for SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation event in Copenhagen, Denmark, from July 5-10, 2026, featuring a scenic view of the colorful buildings and boats along the waterfront at twilight.
The #SPIEastro call for papers closes on 3 December! ⌛
Join us in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 5-10 July. Share your latest research in telescope design, instrumentation, and technologies shaping the future of astronomy. 🔭 🛰️
Learn more and submit your abstract here: https://bit.ly/49yIi12
(a) The JWST Observatory before its final folding for launch and (b) the JWST Launch aboard the Ariane 5 Launcher on December 25, 2021.
🔖 Lessons learned from systems engineering on the James Webb Space Telescope - available Open Access in the SPIE Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems #SPIE_JATIS.
www.spiedigitallibrary.org/journals/Jou...
#SPIEastro
We are winding down at #SPIEastro in Yokohama, Japan. It’s been such a fun and productive week! We hope everyone continues to enjoy today’s presentations and marks their calendar to reconnect in Copenhagen for the 2026 conference. 📆
“You can only move at the speed of trust, which has nothing to do with the Gantt chart.”
-Christine Matsuda, community relations & transformation strategy for Maunakea Observatories.
The last #SPIEastro Lunch & Learn brings together a panel to discuss astronomy on indigenous land. 🔭
The first XRISM GO proposal round received 311 proposals, with an oversubscription of 5:1 (Tashiro) #SPIEastro 🔭🚀
Second #SPIEastro plenary speaker for the day (and last plenary of the conference!) is Prof Makoto Tashiro, PI of the XRISM mission. Great to see some exciting first science from the mission!
A speaker is presenting on stage in an auditorium. The slide behind the speaker shows a detailed diagram of a space telescope with various labeled components, such as "Soft X-ray Imager," "Hard X-ray Imagers," and "Soft Gamma-ray Detectors."
Makoto Tashiro, PI for XRISM and professor at Saitama University, reviews recent developments and science results since the launch of the mission in September 2023.
🛰️🚀
XRISM is the X-Ray Imaging and Spectroscopy Mission. #SPIEastro
A speaker wearing a blue shirt and orange pants is presenting on stage in an auditorium. The slide behind the speaker shows a photo of whiskey barrels with the text "What are we paying for, with a good whiskey?" and "Good distillation processing... and time."
Director of @astronnl.bsky.social, Jessica Dempsey, asks:
💬 What makes our data so expensive?
💬 What are we paying for?
Turns out, whiskey can help us understand. 🥃 📊
Time (in barrels) + processing (distilling) = can our planet continue to afford this carbon footprint? #SPIEastro
Dempsey: LOFAR had the biggest single archive in astronomy - 70 PB 😳 #SPIEastro
Smattering of applause when Dempsey tells us of her fight with Elon Musk on live tv over his Starlink constellation (which affects radio observations as well as optical). Good work 🙌🔭 #SPIEastro
TIL that the brightest radio object in the sky at the lowest radio frequency (eg probed by LOFAR) is Jupiter! So we can use LOFAR for exoplanet science #SPIEastro
Excited for today’s plenary speakers at #SPIEastro - first up is Jessica Dempsey, Director of ASTRON in the Netherlands and Prof of Ethics and Astronomy. She’s talking about the future of radio astronomy! 🔭📡
If you happen to be near Yokohoma, be sure to visit us at SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation event, currently taking place! Come look at some of the finest astronomical engineering the Netherlands have to offer. #SPIEastro @spie.org
A speaker stands in a conference room, presenting a slide titled "Augmenting Astronomical X-ray Detectors with AI for Enhanced Sensitivity and Reduced Background.” The slide shows an image of an astronomical phenomenon and lists several collaborators' names. The audience is seated and attentively listening to the presentation.
“Sensitive, high speed, low noise X-ray imaging detectors will be the comerstone of next-generation missions.”
And AI will be key! 🔑
@danwilkins.bsky.social & team have developed prototype AI algorithms to identify valid X-ray and cosmic-ray induced background events. #SPIEastro
Nour Skaf, #postdoc researcher at @ucsantacruz.bsky.social, spent a few months working on #astronomy outreach and accessibility in emerging countries.
At today’s #SPIEastro Lunch & Learn, she is sharing examples of the science education & outreach she saw in Kenya, Bhutan, Cameroon, and more.
A man in a gray suit is giving a presentation in a conference room filled with attendees. The screen behind him displays a slide titled "The GMT Project in 2024: Status and Look Ahead," presented by William S. Burgett, Ph.D. The room is full of seated participants, and one woman is walking down the aisle.
“If I can convince you of one thing, let it be this: It’s worth building three ELTs. The science that will be uncovered is going to be amazing.”
GMT Project Manager William Burgett provides a status update and look ahead. #SPIEastro #GiantMagellanTelescope 🔭
A woman in a brown jacket is giving a presentation on stage with a large screen behind her displaying images related to galaxies, cosmic events, and deep space surveys.
“UVEX will provide a legacy of data that will be used for decades to come.”
Fiona Harrison, physics prof at @caltech.edu and UVEX PI, reviews NASA’s next Astrophysics Medium-Class Explorer mission at #SPIEastro. 👏
A speaker stands on a stage, presenting in front of a large screen that displays a vibrant astronomical image of a nebula. The screen shows partial text about "floating planets.”
A speaker stands on a stage, presenting in front of a large screen that displays a detailed slide about globular clusters. The slide, titled "D. Massary et al. – Globular Clusters," features a colorful contour map of globular cluster NGC6254 and discusses the search for dynamical interaction of two globular clusters within the Milky Way. Various national flags are displayed at the bottom, along with the text "THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY." A blue banner beside the podium reads "SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation." The room is dimly lit, emphasizing the presentation content and the speaker.
A speaker stands on a stage, presenting in front of a large screen that displays an astronomical image of a star field. The screen shows a slide titled "H. Atek et al. – Giant magnifying lens," discussing the Euclid survey fields and the study of the massive Abell cluster. Various national flags are displayed at the bottom, along with the text "THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY."
A speaker stands on a stage, presenting in front of a large screen that displays an astronomical image filled with stars and galaxies. The screen shows the text "First science results: ERO highlights."
🌟 Free floating planets
🌟 Globular clusters
🌟 Intra-cluster light in the Perseus cluster
🌟 Giant magnifying lens
And that’s just the beginning! 🤯
Project scientist at the European Space and Technology Centre, René Laureijs, reviews #Euclid’s first science results at #SPIEastro.
It’s a family affair at #SPIEastro! 😆🔭
So cool!! Thanks for sharing! ✨ #SPIEastro
The photo depicts the “Ultimate cooled scientific SWIR camera” by Lytid. The device features a prominent lens mounted at the front, encased in a sleek, red housing with a patterned metallic ring around the lens. The Lytid logo is visible on the base of the device.
The photo features a detailed scientific instrument on display, a component of a larger telescope. In the background, there is a large banner for the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT), depicting the telescope against a starry sky. Another model of a telescope is encased in a glass display case nearby. Additional informational posters and smaller components are displayed on the table.
The photo shows a display booth for SCHOTT. The central focus is a large mirror substrate encased in a clear glass enclosure. It’s called “ZERODUR.” This component has a honeycomb-like structure and is accompanied by detailed informational placards. A SCHOTT representative is visible on the left. The background features a large graphic of high-resolution imaging equipment.
The photo shows a display case containing various precision optical components and tools from Zeeko, a company known for its advanced manufacturing technologies. The items include several polished optical surfaces of different shapes and sizes, mounted on a white platform. The case is well-lit, and some reflections can be seen on the glass.
We love walking through the halls of a science expo! 🤩 Everyone is so excited to talk about their latest advances and custom solutions.
It has been a fantastic first day of the #SPIEastro exhibition. We hope everyone is having a stellar time! 🌟
The mid-IR ELT instrument METIS recently passed its final design review and is making great progress. METIS is effectively the ground-based cousin of MIRI on JWST, so we mid-infrared folks are very excited about it. #SPIEastro
Sturm: the long duration of ELT-scale instrumentation is a major problem for personnel management: at odds with short fixed-term contracts & difficult to retain expertise. As a former postdoc working on these projects, I strongly concur with this assessment! #SPIEastro
Interesting project management insight from Sturm & MICADO: the final design review with ESO was split into 3 sub-reviews. This allowed the manufacturing schedule to remain tight, but also brought a lot of risk (eg losing the system-level overview). #SPIEastro
Excited to hear the status updates of the ELT instruments MICADO, METIS and HARMONI (the last 2 I worked on before joining ESA). The scale is amazing: here’s a slide from Sturm showing MICADO, as tall as a giraffe! #SPIEastro
I forgot to add the pic with the PLATO cameras’ non-beer names - here is a selection (slide: S. Niemi) #SPIEastro
