First images from new observatory bring night sky to life ‘like never before'
The first dazzling images have been released from the National Science Foundation and Department of Energy's Vera C. Rubin Observatory, capturing the night sky 'like never before.'
The snapshots reveal the stunning result of more than 10 hours of test observations, snapping the mysterious wonder of the cosmos. They include millions of stars and galaxies and thousands of asteroids in hues of ruby, sapphire, and gold inlaid against the inky blackness of our known universe. Several thousand light-years away from Earth, the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas – vast clouds of gas and dust – exist. We see them here in flamingo pink.
The newly released pictures preview the observatory's upcoming 10-year scientific mission to help humans better understand our place on the pale blue dot known as Earth.
'NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will capture more information about our Universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined,' Brian Stone, who is performing the duties of the National Science Foundation director, said in a statement. 'Through this remarkable scientific facility, we will explore many cosmic mysteries, including the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the Universe.'
'We're entering a golden age of American science,' Harriet Kung, acting director of Department of Energy's Office of Science, said. 'NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory reflects what's possible when the federal government backs world-class engineers and scientists with the tools to lead.'
The observatory, named in honor of the trailblazing U.S. astronomer who established the presence of dark matter in galaxies, rests on the summit of Chile's Cerro Pachón mountain. The culmination of more than two decades of work, it holds an 8.4-meter telescope with the largest digital camera ever built. The camera is the size of a small car and weighs nearly 6,200 pounds. Known as the LSST Camera, each image it takes covers an area on the sky as big as 45 full Moons.
Its primary mission will begin later this year. Known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, the telescope will skim the sky every night for approximately 10 years, taking an ultra-high-definition time-lapse of the universe and helping to make what scientists promise will be billions of scientific discoveries: some we cannot even think of yet.
The observatory's work seeks to answer numerous queries related to dark energy and Rubin's work surrounding dark matter: an unseen substance that drives normal matter, including gas and dust. Although dark matter and dark energy comprise 95 percent of the universe, their properties remain unknown. Astronomers didn't even know it existed until the 20th century. NASA scientists are also planning to use their new Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to try to better define it come 2027. Although, the agency's proposed budget would slash its science funding.
But, in terms of what we can see, the observatory will gather more data in its first year alone than that collected by all optical observatories combined. It will be the most efficient and effective solar system discovery machine ever built, according to its operators. Taking images that cover the Southern sky every three-to-four nights, it will find unseen asteroids, bolstering our planetary defense capabilities.
Ultimately, what the observatory will provide is progress. Scientists will be able to conduct their own investigations into Rubin's data remotely.
'This treasure trove of data will help scientists make countless discoveries about the universe and will serve as an incomparable resource for scientific exploration for decades to come,' the groups asserted.
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First images from new observatory bring night sky to life ‘like never before'
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P3's 3D motion-capture of thousands of athletes jumping and moving has given its scientists an invaluable database of evidence as to what can cause injury — and how to prevent it. The DIY version? Film yourself in slow motion stepping off a high box and you'll acquire decent information about how you land, Abbott says. 'Maybe you'll see your knees cave in; maybe one foot lands before the other; maybe your heels slap down; maybe your pelvis is uneven.' He recommends taking the footage to a trusted personal trainer. Halfway through writing his book, in agony and desperate, Abbott, 50, acceded to a P3 assessment himself. The instruction enabled him to bounce back to peak fitness and function. He's speaking on Zoom from his home in New Jersey, and flaps three soft-worn sheets of exercises at me, beaming. His regime includes strength training, plyometrics and yoga. 'You're fighting your body's natural inclination to reduce your power and range of motion every year after 25,' he says. 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Exercises include a heel walk; lunging and twisting; inching from a plank to a standing position and back again; single-leg Romanian deadlifts; quad stretches; knee hugs; leg swings (sideways and front to back); and 'a bit of lying on the ground, more rotating'. Why save it for sport? 'There have been many days when I wake up feeling 102 years old and then I just do these steps and I feel fine,' Abbott says. I've joined a netball team. How can I protect my back? Planning to leave the ground? Whether you jump, run, lunge or leap, land on the balls of your feet — do not land toes down. P3's research-based instruction started with its observation of elite runners. '[Elliott] noticed that everyone running in the Olympics has their feet dorsiflexed — a little bit toes-up,' Abbott says. 'If the force of landing goes into the ball of your foot, with your toes up, this communication happens all through soft tissue — to your Achilles, to your calf, to your quad, to your glutes. With that chain of communication you can take huge forces without injury.' Whereas if you land with your toes down, 'the next thing is your heel slams down', Abbott says. It exerts huge forces through your body (P3's measured record is nine times a person's body weight: 'Like catching a falling bison'), absorbed by your knees and possibly your lower back. Train so that landing well becomes a habit. 'I do hip bridges with my toes up, just on my heels, or marching movements with a ball over my head and with my toes up,' Abbott says. My posture is dreadful. What can I do to straighten up? 'Computer back' or kyphosis — where your upper back is curved forward — is the most common problem Elliott sees. In athletes it makes injury more likely, limits lateral explosive power and 'contributes to lower back and hip issues, because as your head goes forward you'd fall over if you didn't compensate in your lower spine', Abbott says. To reverse it, P3 recommends a tricky move called the snap squat press. 'Put a broom across your shoulders and squat, so your hips are level with your knees. Stay in this squat and push the broom up. If you have kyphosis, the broom will hit the back of your head — at first,' Abbott says. (Avoid this by elevating your heels on a rolled-up towel.) 'You're rehearsing the movement that will fix the problem', and will ultimately progress from broom to bar. I jog in a low shuffle. If bouncing along is better, how do I train? 'So much of life comes down to glutes, it turns out,' Abbott says. 'The shuffle is the lie that you can land safely without using your glutes, so now the forces are going places they aren't supposed to go.' How to train yourself to be springy? If you skip with a rope, it cues the idea that 'I want the force of the ground to travel smoothly and efficiently into my glutes when I land from running or jumping'. After practising himself, Abbott noticed that rather than use his leg muscles to push off the ground, 'I would land with my toes up a little bit, and my legs slightly flexed and the force would go boing, boing, boing into my glute and it took almost no energy. That's the rehearsal for running. That's the springier, safer thing in action.' Understanding hip flexibility is key GETTY IMAGES I have hips like the Tin Man. Does it matter that I can't touch my toes? 'Every single pair of hips P3 has assessed needs help with either mobility or stability, and you should know which group you're in,' Abbott says. 'People with stable hips just love lifting weights and accept that they can't touch their toes, and people who are really good at the half-moon position just keep going to yoga.' Broadly, everyone who does yoga should lift weights and vice versa, he adds. Without both mobility and stability, you could suffer hip pain, hip-related lower back pain, or knee pain. Abbott suffered incapacitating back pain. His P3 assessment included stepping off a box on to a force plate, which revealed that 'when my right foot came off, my right hip would drop — it's supposed to stay level — and when I hit the ground, I'd have 30 per cent more force on my left side than on my right'. He wasn't absorbing enough force in his hips nor using his glutes, which explained his lumbar problems. Recommended exercises included the stork press: stand on one leg, the other leg pulled up high, knee bent, then hold a heavy weight in your hand on your elevated-leg side. 'You're balancing, trying to keep your hips level, and deploying the glute of the standing leg,' Abbott says. 'Most of what I learnt was in a cold sweat because it was like learning a new language.' My training is strictly gym-based. I'd love to surf but I'm scared I'll wrench something We train to prepare ourselves for life. 'Even if you just chase your dog when it gets off the leash, you're going to have to move aggressively,' Abbott says. 'It's weird that we don't jump more.' If you only stick to the elliptical, you do none of that 'complex navigating in space'. 'Humans have the DNA and the musculature and range of motion and the strength capabilities to be pretty darn free moving. That's the goal.' Aim for the joyfulness of 'puppies playing on the beach'. Abbott's grandmother set a great example: she bodyboarded in Devon. 'She had a wooden board, she'd wear a cap and a frilly, flowery World War Two swimming suit. It was a thrill: the sun and the breeze and cold and the dogs and the puffins.' I confess that my wildest move is a bear crawl. 'Bear crawl is 100 per cent something that Stone Age humans did all the time,' Abbott says. 'We cooked on the ground — there was so much scrambling around. I don't think it's a coincidence that a lot of super cutting-edge training and therapy looks like Stone Age cooking. We evolved with the muscle set to move in that kind of way.' Whether it's netball, surfing or bear crawls, 'let your intuition be your guide and be playful'.
