Systems + Software

Engineering tools with a product mindset

I'm Rob Rothschild, a systems & software engineer in Bellingham, WA, focused on simulation, data analytics, and interactive tools for hardware and test systems.

Explore projects across C++ gameplay, Python and MATLAB data-analysis tools, and modern web apps built with Astro, Django, and SvelteKit.

Rob Rothschild standing with teammates beside the James Webb Space Telescope during testing.
Longmore 8: The Hamster Wheel Nebula

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day

2026-06-17 | Longmore 8: The Hamster Wheel Nebula

How did a hamster wheel get into space? The Hamster Wheel Nebula (Longmore 8) was discovered by Andrew Longmore in 1976 as a part of a larger survey of the southern sky. This survey employed several improvements in photographic technology, including the use of highly sensitive film, to capture deeper and fainter objects on plates that were examined by eye and catalogued. The featured image, taken at Observatorio El Sauce in Chile, depicts an intricate wheel structure of glowing hydrogen that was thrown out into space by a dying star and ionized by the leftover white dwarf. This structure was barely visible on the original plate, emphasizing the power of modern telescopes and cameras. Two opposing clumps of red hydrogen gas encased in the blue veil of ionized oxygen hint at the presence of a companion to the bright white dwarf at the wheel’s center!