Tag: Larry Denneau
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Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS wasn’t supposed to be there — meet the astronomer who discovered it
On the night everything changed For most observers, July 1, 2025 began like countless other evenings at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. Data streams arrived in quiet rhythm, signaling another routine sweep of the sky. But for senior software engineer and astronomer Larry Denneau, the moment carried an unfamiliar weight. A routine routine,…
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Larry Denneau and the Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Discovery
Background: A Routine Night Turns Extraordinary Summoned by the familiar hum of servers and the glow of multiple monitors, Larry Denneau, a senior software engineer and astronomer at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy, prepared for another quiet night of data analysis on July 1, 2025. The nightly workflow—so routine for Denneau and his…
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Interstellar Discovery: The Astronomer Behind the 3I/ATLAS Find
The Night Everything Changed On what seemed like just another routine evening in July 2025, a stream of data began arriving at the Institute for Astronomy at the University of Hawaii. For many astronomers, a quiet night can yield nothing more dramatic than a few new stellar classifications. For Larry Denneau, a senior software engineer…