Latest news with #Trifid
Irish Examiner
02-07-2025
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Largest digital camera ever built reveals its first shots of the universe
The largest digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe on Monday — including colourful nebulas, stars and galaxies. The Vera C Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the US National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years. An image provided by the NSF-DOE Vera C Rubin Observatory (NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory via AP) The observatory's first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly six trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals. The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects. The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalising evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory's discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
First close-up of "cotton candy" nebula captured by world's largest telescope
The world's largest telescope captured a deep-space nebula — an interstellar cloud of gas and dust that can produce new stars — in stunning detail, providing the first close-up view to date of the cosmic phenomenon. Scientists recently unveiled images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a new station located in the Andes Mountains of Chile and funded by the United States, which houses a powerful telescope containing the biggest digital camera on the planet. Its precision allows the telescope to peer far into space, with galaxies tens of millions of light-years away from Earth among the subjects of the observatory's debut portraits of cosmos. Also pictured is the "cotton candy" nebula, which earned that nickname because of its bright pink and blue pattern. Officially, the swirling mass is called the Trifid Nebula, and it exists about 5,000 light-years from Earth, according to the Rubin Observatory. Nearby is the Lagoon Nebula, another colorful cloud, which is located about 4,000 light-years away and appears alongside Trifid in the observatory's latest images. Both are in the constellation Sagittarius, according to the Rubin Observatory. Zoomed-in views of the nebulae are seen in a video shared by the observatory, showcasing the Trifid and Lagoon formations at a scale never seen before. The composite image was created from more than 678 different exposures taken over a 7-hour period by the camera that powers the observatory's massive telescope. The telescope's long-term mission is set to begin later this year, when it will perform nightly scans of the sky for the next decade in an effort to learn more about the early universe and some of its properties that still are not well-understood, like dark energy. Brian Stone, the chief of staff at the National Science Foundation who currently performs the duties of the foundation's director, said in a statement that the Rubin Observatory is expected to "capture more information about our Universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined." "Through this remarkable scientific facility, we will explore many cosmic mysteries, including the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the Universe," his statement said. Watch: Senate passes Trump budget bill after Vance casts tie-breaking vote A deeper look at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" migrant detention facility H.R. McMaster on impact of Israel, U.S. strikes on Iran
Straits Times
27-06-2025
- Science
- Straits Times
Chile observatory captures the universe with 3,200-megapixel camera
The open star cluster Messier 21 is seen in an image produced by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, on Pachon Hill, Coquimbo Region, Chile June 12, 2025. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/Handout via REUTERS Globular cluster NGC 6544 is seen in an image produced by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, on Pachon Hill, Coquimbo Region, Chile June 12, 2025. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/Handout via REUTERS The Trifid Nebula is seen in an image produced by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, on Pachon Hill, Coquimbo Region, Chile June 12, 2025. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/Handout via REUTERS Distant galaxies are seen in an image produced by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, on Pachon Hill, Coquimbo Region, Chile June 18, 2025. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/Handout via REUTERS The Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae are seen in an image produced by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, on Pachon Hill, Coquimbo Region, Chile June 12, 2025. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/Handout via REUTERS SANTIAGO - Chile's Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which boasts the world's largest digital camera, has begun displaying its first images of the cosmos, allowing astronomers to figure out how the solar system formed and even whether an asteroid poses a threat to Earth. Located on Pachon Hill in the northern region of Coquimbo, the 8.4-meter (27-1/2-foot) telescope has a 3,200-megapixel camera feeding a powerful data processing system. "It's really going to change and challenge the way people work with their data," said William O'Mullane, a project manager focused on data at Vera Rubin. The observatory detected over 2,100 previously unseen asteroids in 10 hours of observations, focusing on a small area of the visible sky. Its ground-based and space-based peers discover in total some 20,000 asteroids a year. O'Mullane said the observatory would allow astronomers to collect huge amounts of data quickly and make unexpected finds. "Rather than the usual couple of observations and writing an (academic) paper. No, I'll give you a million galaxies. I'll give you a million stars or a billion even, because we have them: 20 billion galaxy measurements," he said. The center is named after American astronomer Vera C. Rubin, a pioneer in finding conclusive evidence of the existence of large amounts of invisible material known as dark matter. Each night, Rubin will take some 1,000 images of the southern hemisphere sky, letting it cover the entire southern sky every three or four nights. The darkest skies above the arid Atacama Desert make Chile one of the best places worldwide for astronomical observation. "The number of alerts the telescope will send every night is equivalent to the inboxes of 83,000 people. It's impossible for someone to look at that one by one," said astrophysicist Francisco Foster. "We're going to have to use artificial intelligence tools." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Arab Times
24-06-2025
- Science
- Arab Times
The largest digital camera ever built has released its first shots of the universe
NEW YORK, June 24, (AP): The largest digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe Monday - including colorful nebulas, stars, and galaxies. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years. The observatory's first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals. The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects. The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory's discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.
Hans India
24-06-2025
- Science
- Hans India
Largest digital camera ever built releases first glamour shots of universe
New York:The largest digital camera ever built released its first glamour shots of the universe Monday — including colourful nebulas, stars and galaxies. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners. Funded by the US National Science Foundation and US Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years. The observatory's first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals. The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects. The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalising evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe. Researchers hope the observatory's discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.
