Jarron Leisenring

Jarron Leisenring

@jarron.bsky.social

Astronomer at Steward Observatory and Director of the Imaging Technology Lab (https://itl.arizona.edu/). Work on JWST NIRCam, ground-based AO, and detectors for high contrast imaging of exoplanet and disks. Statements and opinions are my own. (he/him)

338 followers206 following401 posts

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

Rubin Observatory’s commissioning camera, ComCam, is equivalent to a single “raft” of 3x3 sensors in the full LLSTCam. Manufactured by @stewardobservatory.bsky.social’s Imaging Technology Lab as part of its contribution to Rubin, ComCam would itself be a formidable camera on any other telescope.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org

At 144 megapixels, ComCam was Rubin’s warm-up act before the giant 3200-megapixel LSST Camera took the stage. This image release today commemorates that first 7-week on-sky period two years ago, which paved the way for #RubinFirstLook and the start of full science operations.

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

re: Russian plague - With the permafrost thawing, people have kinda been predicting something like this for years now. Good thing we've been forewarned! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

link.springer.comFuture threat from the past - Environmental Science and Pollution ResearchGlobal warming is one of the major challenges facing humanity. The increase in the Earth’s temperature and thawing of ancient ice release viable viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms whic...

Jarron Leisenring reposted

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans
@astroroyalscot.bsky.social

This is a pleasing factoid: the Nancy Grace Roman space telescope is the same size and weight as a T-Rex! Countdown: 15 days to launch! 🚀 AUG 30, 2026 11:26 UTC ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/mission/roma...

Astronomer Royal for Scotland | Catherine Heymans@astroroyalscot.bsky.social

Space projects running ahead of schedule? This is rare! Huge celebratory high-5's all round to the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope team, due for early launch this August 🥳 This beast will discover >100,000 planets orbiting distant stars and so so much more 🤩🧪🔭🛰️ ℹ️: science.nasa.gov/blogs/roman/...

Jarron Leisenring reposted

Moira Donegan
@moiradonegan.bsky.social

Replying to @moiradonegan.bsky.social

“If this was true, I would be in jail,” is not meant to convince you that this man did not commit gender violence. It is meant to remind you that we have collectively decided that gender violence will be de facto invisible to the law.

Jarron Leisenring reposted

David Dayen
@ddayen.bsky.social

Four years ago, a coordinated right-wing smear campaign condemned Monticello for "going woke." Bridget Gillespie was working there at the time, and she gives this revelatory inside account of the harassment staff endured and ultimately how the institution buckled. Amazing piece.

prospect.orgWhat Broke Monticello - The American ProspectHow a right-wing smear campaign tried to silence the reality of Thomas Jefferson’s life, and in some ways succeeded.
Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

And then if orchestrated by a state advisory, you’ve essentially recreated the plot of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Edward Wong@ewong.bsky.social

CIA officer David Rush, who was found with $40 million of gold bars in his home, created a fake spy program to funnel federal money to himself, said two US officials. He has been charged with getting pay by making a false claim he was a Navy reservist. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2026/06/06/u...

nytimes.comC.I.A. Officer Found With Gold Bars Said to Have Created Fake Spy Program
Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

As a research scientist, I’m feeling like The Captive’s War series is not giving the kind of escapism I need in this moment. Maybe I should just go back and re-read The Expanse?

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

Yeah, sometimes I just zoom around this for fun. Advanced challenge: locate the brown dwarfs! jades.idies.jhu.edu/goods-s/?ra=...

jades.idies.jhu.eduFitsMap
Paul Byrne@theplanetaryguy.com

Every so often I like to look at the JWST deep field images—like this one, from the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey. This is part of the sky known as GOODS-South. Every six-pointed feature is a star in the Milky Way. Everything else is a galaxy. And there's about 32,000 of them here.

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

Alright, folks. November Rain needs some help in the March Sadness tournament. Only 40 minutes to play! And while you’re add it, Ani DiFranco over Ben Folds. marchxness.com

marchxness.comMarch Sadness 90s EditionA yearly March Madness-style tournament of essays about songs we love (and occasionally loathe)
March Xmas 2026@marchxness.bsky.social

FINAL FOUR SCORES, 90' TO PLAY: My Heart Will Go On 294 November Rain 246 Rain on the ropes! Vote by 9am! Either way a 1 seed will have to fall. marchxness.com

Jarron Leisenring reposted

John Scalzi
@scalzi.com

Also this bookstore in the Tucson airport now has several signed copies of When The Moon Hits Your Eye. Signed by me, to be clear.

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

Excited to help see this project through!

András Gáspár@andrasgaspar.bsky.social

1/5! Considering the 10x oversubscription and that I've seen more than one first quintile rejections, I am satisfied. So, what will we be doing? We are going to bring JWST/NIRCam coronagraphy into the optical! We tested a flight spare mask and surprise surprise ... it is transparent.

Jarron Leisenring reposted

András Gáspár
@andrasgaspar.bsky.social

1/5! Considering the 10x oversubscription and that I've seen more than one first quintile rejections, I am satisfied. So, what will we be doing? We are going to bring JWST/NIRCam coronagraphy into the optical! We tested a flight spare mask and surprise surprise ... it is transparent.

Jarron Leisenring reposted

Phil PlAIt
@philplait.bsky.social

Elon Musk has already started plans to launch a million satellites. Yes. A MILLION. This is a colossally bad idea, and it's not too late to make your voice heard. I explain everything: www.scientificamerican.com/article/ramp... 🔭 🧪

scientificamerican.comDon’t let mega-constellation-building billionaires steal your night skySatellites are wonders of modern technology that have improved all of our lives. But having more than a million of them in orbit could destroy our view of the heavens and seriously damage our planet
Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

We're hiring a Research Engineer at the U. Arizona's Imaging Technology Lab (ITL; itl.arizona.edu). If you have hands-on lab experience and are interested in working on cutting-edge tech development for astronomy / scientific sensors, I encourage you to apply! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...

arizona.csod.comResearch Engineer, Steward ObservatoryAssist and support engineering functions such as operation, programming, and maintenance of equipment involved in image sensor production such as flip...
Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

What Sarah said.

Sarah Kendrew@sarahkendrew.bsky.social

For me one of the most disturbing aspects of the links between Epstein and academia is that the power and incentive structures that encouraged this entanglement are all still in place. Structurally, nothing has changed.

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

It’s critical that we interrogate the power structures at play here. With the federal funding landscape in question, fundamental scientific inquiries are becoming more dependent on foundation support. And it’s important to ensure whims of individuals do not compromise our values.

Jarron Leisenring
@jarron.bsky.social

There is no easy or quick fix in dismantling those structures and the forces at play. It’s going to take long term commitment from the community, those in leadership positions, and our collective organizations to reshape this framework. Let’s take that seriously.