Rubin will Usher in a New Era of Discoveries in Astronomy
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE/SC), will change our understanding of the Universe. From the top of Cerro Pachón in Chile, Rubin Observatory will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years with the largest camera ever built, creating an ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our Universe. Named after astronomer Vera C. Rubin, who provided the first convincing evidence for the existence of dark matter, Rubin Observatory will conduct a 10-year survey called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
Rubin Observatory is unique in its design – the mirror, camera size and sensitivity, telescope speed, and computing infrastructure are all entirely new. The 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope at Rubin Observatory is equipped with the largest camera ever built and will take detailed images of the southern hemisphere sky for 10 years, covering the visible sky every few nights. This survey will discover objects that change in the night sky: asteroids and comets, pulsating stars, and supernova explosions. The Rubin Observatory is a major new time domain survey facility that will act as a discovery engine for all areas of astrophysics for the next decade.
Monday, June 23, Is a major landmark for LCO and astronomy in general - the first data will be available from the Rubin Observatory. The Las Cumbres Observatory network of optical telescopes was built to excel in following up these kinds of discoveries and many LCO scientists have been actively contributing to Rubin for years through their participation in the LSST Discovery Alliance.
Wayne Rosing, the founder of LCO, has been involved with the Rubin project since its inception and is pleased to see the telescope coming online:
“At LCO we have engineered and built the only global optical telescope network in the world and it has been operating for eleven years. We are ready for the new age of Astronomy being ushered in by the Rubin Observatory and we look forward to observing the newly-discovered objects and the cutting-edge science that will result.”
Dr. Rachel Street is a Senior Scientist at LCO and is an active member of the Rubin Science Community. Dr. Street and and all of LCO’s science team are ready for the flood of data that will be coming from the Rubin Observatory:
“I can’t wait to see the first data from the Rubin Observatory! This survey is going to transform virtually all areas of astrophysics, from a census of previously-undetectable objects in our own Solar System and Milky Way out to supernovae in distant galaxies.”
The Director of LCO, Dr. Lisa Storrie-Lombardi, is looking forward to the discoveries that will be made with data from the Rubin Observatory:
“In addition to all the previously unseen objects in our local universe that the Rubin Observatory is guaranteed to reveal, one of the most exciting outcomes of a new powerful survey telescope is revealing things we did not expect. We are so excited to see the discoveries that Rubin reveals.”
The public is invited to view the First Look of images from the Rubin Observatory, which will be broadcast live at 8am PDT. Please join the event here on the Rubin YouTube channel.
