Latest news with #SimonyiSurveyTelescope
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Rubin Observatory takes its 1st look at the night skies
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Recently, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory shared its first images with the world: stunning photographs of spiral galaxies, nebulas, and stars strung across our universe. The technology used to capture these images was years in the making, and will help launch a whole new era of studying the night sky. The Rubin Observatory houses the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope and its corresponding LSST camera (LSSTCam), the largest digital camera in the world. Using these tools, the Rubin Observatory studies faint objects in our solar system as astronomers try to study the dark matter that makes up a majority of our universe. The Rubin Observatory resides in Cerro Pachón in the Andes Mountains in Chile. The Rubin Observatory was born out of a decades-long quest by astronomers to understand what dark matter actually is. In the 1990s, a group of scientists began to brainstorm an idea for a telescope just focused on studying dark matter. According to the Rubin Observatory, this idea for a "Dark Matter Telescope" began to gain traction, and by the 2010s the instrument, now called the Large-Aperture Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) started to be built in Chile. As the telescope was designed to study extremely faint objects in our solar system, along with most of our asteroids, it needed to be placed away from cities and other areas with more light pollution. The LSST camera, comprising of 3200 megapixels, was built at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California before being shipped to Chile. In 2019 the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope was renamed the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, in honor of female astronomer Vera Rubin and her work in studying dark matter. The Rubin Observatory released its first batch of images on June 23, 2025 as it had scanned the night skies only a few days prior, finding over 2,000 asteroids in the process. With a scanning area of over 45 full moons in size, the Rubin Observatory can survey our galaxy 10 to 100 times faster than similar observatories. You can read more about the search for dark matter and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory as astronomers continue to uncover more about our universe.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Vera Rubin Observatory zooms into deep space
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Astronomers use powerful telescopes, often housed at observatories, to peer into the farthest depths of our universe. To do this successfully, observatories often have to be placed at high elevations, away from light pollution, which is why the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Cerro Pachón in Chile sits at 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level. From their high perches, these observatories take clearer photos of our universe, providing more details about other galaxies, asteroids, and other structures. Recently, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory revealed its first images of our universe, using the LSST camera (LSSTCam), the world's largest digital camera ever constructed. At roughly the size of a compact car, the LSST camera works with the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope to photograph hard-to-see images. These images could help reveal the presence of dark matter, which makes up 85% of our universe but is essentially invisible. The LSST camera covers a space around the size of 45 full moons in our sky in just one image. In the image release, one of the photographs shared with the public was this picture of the Virgo cluster, revealing two bright spiral galaxies and three merging galaxies, along with many stars. The Virgo cluster is around 53.8 million light-years from Earth. In just this one image, there are estimated to be around 10 million galaxies! Incredibly, this is only 0.05% of the number of around 20 billion galaxies that Rubin will have imaged by the end of its 10-year mission, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which will investigate dark energy and dark matter in the universe. Presenting these images to the world, the researchers mentioned that this image of the Virgo cluster was created by projecting data onto the image to help give it a three-dimensional look. It is one of many pictures that will continue to be shared as the Rubin Observatory scans the skies at speeds 10 to 100 times faster than similar sized telescopes. With this innovation, images like the Virgo cluster are revealing more intricate structures in our universe, and they're only the beginning of what's to come. You can read more about the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and galaxy clusters as astronomers continue to study our universe.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Wisconsin science, industry play critical roles in creating powerful new Rubin Observatory
Light from faraway galaxies can show us what the universe was like billions of years ago. But the movements and mysteries of those galaxies tell physicists that we still don't know what makes up the vast majority of the universe. 'How did it begin? When will it end? What is it made of?' Keith Bechtol, a physics professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said these are some of the questions scientists will try to address with a new observatory in Chile featuring the biggest camera ever built. The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science, released the first set of images on June 23. The stunning images represent the fruits of a decades-long effort to push the study of the cosmos well past its current limits. Building the Rubin Observatory, which sits on a summit in Chile's Andes Mountain range, spanned three decades and involved parts and people from three continents. Some of the most important support came from Wisconsin. Beginning in October 2025, the Rubin Observatory will embark on the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Over the next 10 years it will scan the entire Southern Hemisphere sky about 800 times, providing the most detailed look at the universe to date. The plan going forward sounds deceptively simple. Getting to the starting point was anything but that. 'The whole idea for the (Rubin) observatory was so visionary when it was conceived (in the 1990s) that many of the technologies didn't exist at that time' said Bechtol. Bechtol served as the System Verification and Validation Scientist for the international team in charge of the Rubin. He oversaw much of the testing that ensures scientists will reliably get the high-quality data they are seeking. Observatories usually face trade-offs between how big an area they scan, the resolution of the photos they take and how fast they can take them. The scientists designing the Rubin attacked these challenges on all three fronts. The Simonyi Survey Telescope installed uses an innovative mirror system to reflect incoming light onto a camera the size of a car. After scanning one piece of the sky, the whole system rapidly spins to look in a different direction, rotating in coordination with its protective dome while maintaining near perfect alignment of the mirrors. According to Bechtol, displaying one image at full resolution would require enough high-definition TVs to cover a basketball court. The final step in building the Rubin — installing the 80-ton mirror system — was made possible by the Milwaukee-based company PFlow Industries. Pieces of the telescope were assembled at a staging area but needed to be raised five stories to be installed in the dome. PFlow custom-built a lift capable of moving critical equipment from the assembly area to the dome. A video shared by Rubin Observatory shows this lift in action. During and after construction, Bechtol organized a series of 'rehearsals' to simulate how the Rubin will operate. He accounted for details including the workflow of operating it, the challenge of transferring massive amounts of data from the summit, and even making sure the summit hotel was staffed and had food for its residents. After nearly 30 years of dreaming, designing, building and testing, the first images from Rubin Observatory arrived. UW-Madison hosted a First Look Party on June 23 to view these images with the public. Nearly 100 people gathered in a physics department auditorium to watch a livestream of a press conference in Washington, D.C., before participating in a panel discussion with Bechtol and other scientists who will use data from the Rubin. Even though Monday was the first chance for the public to see the images, some of the scientists involved in the project had a sneak peek. 'I woke up in bed and saw messages' that the first images had come in, said Miranda Gorsuch, a graduate student at UW-Madison who has Bechtol as an advisor. 'It was like waking up from a dream.' Gorsuch plans to use the data to study the structure of the universe and how it evolves over time. Rubin Observatory is named after Vera C. Rubin, an astronomer who first provided observations suggesting we might not be able to see most of the matter making up the universe. Understanding the properties of this 'dark matter' is one of the top priorities for scientists who will use the collected data. But there is so much more to learn; the Rubin is already showing outer space in incredible detail. Just one small slice of our solar system imaged by Rubin Observatory already led to the discovery of 2,000 new asteroids. In one image of the full field of view, scientists detected 10 million galaxies — many for the first time. By repeatedly scanning the sky, scientists hope to use the Rubin as an alert system for rare events, like supernovae, which they can then observe in more focused follow-up studies. 'This is when science works best – when you have this interplay' between new discoveries and the new questions they raise, Bechtol said. 'There's a science case (for building the Rubin), but any time you do this, there is also a set of questions you haven't thought to ask yet' said Eric Wilcots, dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison. While UW-Madison was just one of many universities involved in the international project, Wilcots believes its participation will inspire future scientists and attract them to Wisconsin. Both Bechtol and Wilcots stressed the importance of sustained financial support from the NSF and DOE to bring the project to fruition. Rob Morgan was one of the first graduate students advised by Bechtol, working on a Dark Energy Survey that served as a precursor to Rubin Observatory. According to Morgan, the Rubin is the culmination of the astronomy field's shift towards a 'big data' approach. Now, Morgan applies the skills he learned as an astrophysicist to his work at Google's office in Madison. 'Google is where 'big data' is done for the rest of the world,' said Morgan. This week's image release represented a beginning. Scientists will spend years collecting and analyzing data. Still, the opening provided a moment worth cherishing. 'We don't get a lot of observatory openings,' said Alyssa Jankowski, who recently completed an undergraduate degree at UW-Madison. 'It's important to celebrate.' This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin science, industry help create new international observatory
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Vera C Rubin Observatory reveals 1st stunning images of the cosmos. Scientists are 'beyond excited about what's coming'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has released its first images as it begins its 10-year mission conducting the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The LSST will revolutionize astronomy with one of its primary aims being the investigation of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe, and dark matter, the strange substance that accounts for 85% of the "stuff" in the cosmos but remains effectively its perch atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, a mountain that rises around 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level, Rubin scans the entire night sky over the Southern Hemisphere once every three nights. This endeavor will be the most extensive continuous mapping of the southern sky ever attempted, and will be conducted by Rubin using the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope and the LSST camera (LSSTCam), the largest digital camera ever constructed at around the size of a small car. Just one image from the LSSTCam covers an area equivalent to the size of 45 full moons in the sky. Above is the observatory's first image of the Virgo cluster, a vast cluster of galaxies located around 53.8 million light-years from Earth. The image shows a vast array of celestial objects, including galaxies and stars. Demonstrating the true potential of Rubin, this image alone contains a rich tapestry of about 10 million galaxies. Staggeringly, the ten million galaxies in the above image are just 0.05% of the number of around 20 billion galaxies that Rubin will have imaged by the end of the LSST. In fact, in a decade, Rubin will have collected data on an estimated 40 billion celestial bodies, meaning we will have seen more heavenly bodies than there are humans alive for the first time. Unsurprisingly, many of these objects are completely new and viewed by humanity for the first time today. The objects that are familiar have been highlighted in the image below. "The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will allow us to add depth and dynamism to the observation of the universe," Roberto Ragazzoni, president of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), said in a statement. "With this 8-meter class telescope capable of continuously mapping the southern sky every three days, we enter the era of 'astro-cinematography', exploring a new dimension: that of time, with which we expect to study the cosmos with a new perspective, which is now possible thanks also to the use of new information technologies to process a mass of data that would otherwise be inscrutable." One of the most impressive abilities of Rubin will be its capability to study objects that change in brightness over time as it builds the "greatest movie of all time." This unique power comes from the fact that Rubin can scan the sky at superfast speeds, around 10 to 100 times faster than similar large telescopes. The "transients" it sees will include over 100 million variable stars changing their brightness because of pulsations, thermal instabilities, and even because of planets "transiting," or passing between Rubin and their visible disks. Rubin will also be able to observe millions of massive stars as they end their lives and undergo supernova explosions. The groundbreaking observatory will also investigate so-called "type Ia supernovas," triggered when dead star-white dwarfs undergo runaway nuclear explosions after overfeeding on stellar companions. Type Ia supernovas are also known as "standard candles" due to the fact that their consistent luminosities allow astronomers to use them to measure cosmic distances. Thus, Rubin will also make an indirect impact on astronomy by providing scientists with a wealth of new and better-understood distances between objects in the universe. Closer to home, by observing objects as they change in brightness in the night-sky, Rubin will provide astronomers with a better picture of asteroids and small bodies as they orbit Earth. This could help space agencies like NASA assess potential threats to Earth and defend against asteroids. The YouTube video below shows over 2,100 new asteroids discovered by Rubin in its first week of operations alone. "If something in the sky moves or changes, Rubin will detect it and distribute the information in real time to the entire world. This means that we will be able to observe transient phenomena in action, making new, often unexpected, astrophysical discoveries possible," said Sara (Rosaria) Bonito of the Board of Directors of the LSST Discovery Alliance of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. "Rubin will produce a true multi-colored movie of the sky, lasting an entire decade. A movie that will allow us to see the universe as never before: not just through static images, but in dynamic evolution." Hours before the release of the main images above at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Monday (June 23), the Rubin team released several smaller "preview" images that are smaller sections of these larger images. These give the general public an opportunity to witness the incredible detail in images captured by the LSST camera. "These sneak preview images already highlight the uniqueness of Rubin to look at the cosmos in a way that we have never done before, bringing the sky to life!" Andrés Alejandro Plazas Malagón, a researcher at Stanford University and part of the Rubin Observatory's Community Science Team, told "These preview images also already highlight the sophistication and power of the software used to reduce or 'clean' the images: the LSST Science Pipelines."The image below shows the Triffid nebula (also known as Messier 20 or NGC 6514) in the top right, which is located around 9,000 light-years from Earth, and the Lagoon nebula (Messier 8 or NGC 6523), estimated to be 4,000 to 6,000 light-years away. These are regions in which clouds of gas and dust are condensing to birth new stars. The above picture combines 678 separate images taken by Rubin over just over 7 hours of observing time. By combining images like this, Rubin is capable of revealing details otherwise too faint to see or practically invisible. This reveals the clouds of gas and dust that comprise these nebulae in incredible detail. "The Trifod-Lagoon image shows these two nebulae or 'stellar nurseries' highlighting regions of gas and dust, made from about 678 individual images," Plazas Malagón said. "It's impressive how the large field of view of LSSTCam captured the scene all at once!"The image below shows a small section of Rubin's total view of the Virgo cluster. The bright foreground stars in this image are located closer to home, lying in the Milky Way. In the background are many galaxies even more distant than the Virgo cluster. The image below shows another small slice of Rubin's total view of the Virgo cluster. Visible in the lower right of the image are two prominent spiral galaxies. In the upper right of the image are three galaxies that are colliding and merging. The image also contains several other groups of distant galaxies, as well as a wealth of stars in our galaxy. It is just one 50th of the entire image it came from. "The other preview images show a fraction of the Virgo cluster, a galaxy cluster of about 1,000 galaxies. Built from about 10 hours of data, we already see the capability of Rubin to capture the faintest objects with exquisite detail, which will enable amazing science. And these images are just about 2 percent of the field of view of a single LSSTcam image!" Plazas Malagón said. Related Stories: — How the Rubin observatory could detect thousands of 'failed stars' — World's largest digital camera to help new Vera Rubin Observatory make a 'time-lapse record of the universe' (video) — Rubin Observatory aces 1st image tests, gets ready to use world's largest digital camera Following the release of these images, the next big step for Rubin with be the beginning of the LSST, which should occur over the next few months."The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its first LSST project are a unique opportunity for the new generation," Bonito said. "It is a great legacy for anyone who wants to approach scientific disciplines, offering a revolutionary tool for astrophysics and new technologies for data interpretation."Bonito added that the astrophysics that can be done with Rubin is extremely diversified: a single observation campaign will allow us to respond to very broad scientific themes, which concern our galaxy but also dark matter, our solar system, and even the most unpredictable phenomena that occur in the sky." And with 10 years of the LSST ahead of it, the future of Rubin and astronomy in general is bright."These preview images also already highlight the sophistication and power of the LSST Science Pipelines software used to reduce or 'clean' the images," Plazas Malagón concluded. "As an observational cosmologist and having worked in the development of the LSST Science Pipelines and the characterization of the LSSTCam, I'm proud and beyond excited about what's coming!" To dive into the first image from Rubin and explore for yourself, visit the Vera C. Rubin Observatory SkyViewer page.
New York Post
6 days ago
- Science
- New York Post
Largest camera ever built captures eye-popping images of millions of distant stars and galaxies
The first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory showed off a breathtaking preview of its capabilities — capturing millions of stars and galaxies light-years from Earth, along with thousands of never-before-seen asteroids. The observatory — perched atop Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes Mountains — will train its high-powered 27.5-foot Simonyi Survey Telescope at the night sky over the next decade to give astronomers an unprecedented look at the cosmos. 3 The approximately $810 million Vera C. Rubin observatory took nearly two decades to complete. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Matsopoulos Advertisement The newly released images were compiled from around 10 hours of test observations, showing swirling clouds of pink and golden dust that make up the Trifid nebula and a large cluster of galaxies known as the Virgo cluster — both located thousands of light-years away. In all, the video made from the first 1,100 test images shows around 10 million distant galaxies in the camera's wide-view lens, a tiny fraction of the approximately 20 billion galaxies the Rubin observatory is hoping to capture over the course of its work. 'NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will capture more information about our universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined,' National Science Foundation Chief of Staff Brian Stone told CNN. Advertisement The test images also uncovered 2,104 asteroids that had never before been seen in our solar system, including seven 'near-Earth' asteroids — those within about 30 million miles of Earth's orbit. Scientists at the observatory said none of them pose any threat to our planet. Images of the asteroids are expected to be shared with the public on Monday. Typical telescopes based in space or on the ground are capable of spying around 20,000 asteroids each year, while the Rubin Observatory is expected to discover millions of the rocky space objects in just the next two years alone, according to the US National Science Foundation, which funded the observatory along with the US Department of Energy. Advertisement 3 First images included the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas, both thousands of light-years from Earth. AP The primary objective of the $810 million observatory, which took approximately 20 years to build, is to create an ultra-high-definition movie of the images it captures over the next 10 years known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. The resulting time-lapse compilation will show details like comets and asteroids zooming by, exploding stars and distant galaxies transforming over time. 3 Another image captured showed a large cluster of galaxies called the Virgo cluster, representing just a fraction of the 20 billion galaxies the observatory is expected to image over the next 10 years. AP Advertisement '[Rubin] will enable us to explore galaxies, stars in the Milky Way, objects in the solar system, and all in a truly new way. Since we take images of the night sky so quickly and so often, (it) will detect millions of changing objects literally every night,' Aaron Roodman, a professor of particle physics and astrophysics at Stanford University, told the outlet. The observatory's unique capabilities will help other powerful telescopes direct their focus, acting as a 'discovery machine' to discover other interesting areas of the universe that warrant a closer look. The telescope's namesake, Vera C. Rubin, is considered one of the most influential female astronomers of all time. She is credited with providing some of the first evidence proving the existence of dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up much of our universe.
