The Vera Rubin Observatory could find dozens of interstellar objects
Scientists and astronomers are racing to study only the third-ever known interstellar visitor to the solar system, but with a powerful new observatory coming online, these enigmatic objects may soon become routine discoveries.
A comet, now known as 3I/ATLAS, with 3I short for "third interstellar," sparked immediate excitement on July 1 when it was detected by the Deep Random Survey remote telescope in Chile, exhibiting a hyperbolic and highly eccentric orbit.
It is the third confirmed interstellar visitor, following 1I'Oumuamua in 2017 and 2I/Borisov in 2019. But fleeting visits of high-speed guests from outside our solar system are likely to be detected much more regularly now, thanks to the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
The Rubin observatory is located on the mountain of Cerro Pachón in Chile, and saw first light in June after a decade of construction. While it is only in its early commissioning phase, in just 10 hours of observations, Rubin discovered 2,104 new asteroids. Its science objectives include understanding the structure and evolution of the universe, mapping the Milky Way and observing transient astronomical events, but it is also set to revolutionize the detection of interstellar objects (ISOs).
This is thanks to Rubin's gigantic Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) camera— the largest digital camera ever constructed for astronomy, with a staggering 3.2 gigapixels. LSST will scan giant swaths of the sky at once and observe the entire southern sky every few nights. Due to its wide field, depth, and how frequently it observes the same regions of sky, Rubin is uniquely capable of catching fast, faint objects like 1I/'Oumuamua or 3I/ATLAS.
ISOs like 1I/'Oumuamua or 3I/ATLAS move quickly and can easily pass through our sky unnoticed if the sky is not being scanned often and everywhere. Rubin will be looking constantly and broadly, giving astronomers the best chance yet to catch these fleeting visitors, while also being able to detect objects fainter than nearly any ground-based survey before it. Rubin's powerful imaging and automatic image comparison, coupled with an automated alert system — with millions triggered and filtered every night — means it will pick up telltale motion and flag a potential ISO.
So how many interstellar objects might Rubin actually detect? The answer varies widely depending on which assumptions scientists use.
We are in the early days of detecting ISOs, so it is difficult to estimate how many Rubin is likely to pick up; we know little about their overall frequency, size range, brightness, if they exhibit cometary activity, and how LSST performs.
However, a few recent papers on the topic provide some useful context for how many ISOs LSST might be able to detect, depending on a range of variables.
In a 2022 paper, Hoover et al. estimate that LSST will detect on the order of between 0.9-1.9 ISOs every year, or around 15 such objects across Rubin's 10-year observational campaign. It notes that these are lower limits, which can be updated when there is more data on the number density and size frequency of interstellar objects.
Additionally, Hoover et al. estimate the chances that Rubin will find an ISO reachable by the Comet Interceptor and Bridge mission concepts, which would fly by an interstellar object as it passes through our solar system. These missions would be launched to lurk in wait, ready to intercept and rendezvous with a passing ISO. The researchers concluded that there is just a roughly 0.07% chance that LSST would identify an ISO target available to Comet Interceptor, which has limited capability to change its velocity, while LSST could detect around three to seven ISOs reachable by Bridge, a more capable but yet-to-be-approved mission concept.
RELATED STORIES
— New interstellar object 3I/ATLAS: Everything we know about the rare cosmic visitor
— Vera C Rubin Observatory reveals 1st stunning images of the cosmos. Scientists are 'beyond excited about what's coming'
— 'Oumuamua: A guide to the 1st known interstellar visitor
Another estimate, from a 2023 paper by Ezell and Loeb, expects LSST to detect one small ISO 3 to 164 feet (1 to 50 meters) wide every one to two years.
A more optimistic assessment comes from Marceta and Seligman in a 2023 paper. They find, based on a simulated suite of galactic populations of asteroidal interstellar objects and their trajectories and kinematics, that Rubin should detect between around 0 and 70 asteroidal interstellar objects every year. Again, one of the main factors is how many objects of different sizes actually exist in the population of ISOs, as well as their albedo, or how much light they reflect.
With just three confirmed interstellar visitors so far, much remains unknown about the number, size, and diversity of ISOs. But with the Rubin Observatory coming online, sightings of these fast-moving cosmic messengers may soon shift from rare events to regular science, offering unique insights into the galaxy beyond our solar system.
Solve the daily Crossword
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Crypto billionaire Justin Sun will fly on Blue Origin's next space tourism launch
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Four years after he paid $28 million for a spacecraft seat, Justin Sun will finally fly to the final frontier. In June 2021, Sun — the billionaire founder of the blockchain platform Tron — won an auction for a seat aboard Blue Origin's first-ever crewed spaceflight. That mission launched on July 20 of that year, carrying Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and three other people to and from suborbital space on the company's reusable New Shepard vehicle. Sun was not on board, however; he had to back out due to scheduling conflicts, the company said at the time. Sun had not identified himself as the winning bidder when that flight lifted off. The big reveal came in December 2021, when the crypto billionaire went public and said he now planned to fly in 2022 with five other "space warriors." That didn't happen, either. But Sun's long-deferred spaceflight is now just around the corner: He is officially on the manifest for NS-34, New Shepard's next human spaceflight, Blue Origin announced on Monday (July 21). The company has not yet disclosed a target launch date for the flight but is expected to do so soon. Here's a brief profile of the 34-year-old Sun and his five NS-34 crewmates, using information provided by Blue Origin. Arvinder (Arvi) Singh Bahal, a real estate investor and adventurer who was born in India but is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He has visited every country in the world, as well as both the north and south poles. Gökhan Erdem, a Turkish businessman, photographer and space enthusiast who "dreams of one day traveling to the International Space Station and possibly even beyond," Blue Origin wrote. Deborah Martorell, a journalist and meteorologist from Puerto Rico who has taken a microgravity-inducing airplane flight and reported on a number of space missions, including NASA's Artemis 1 moon flight. She's also a Solar System Ambassador for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Lionel Pitchford, an Englishman who has long lived in Spain and traveled the world. After losing his sister and her family in a 1992 plane crash in Nepal, he founded a nonprofit in the nation devoted to helping disadvantaged children. Pitchford has also run an orphanage in Kathmandu for the last 30 years. James (J.D.) Russell, an entrepreneur who founded the venture capital firm Alpha Funds. He also established the Victoria Russell Foundation, a nonprofit that honors the memory of his deceased daughter by "supporting children's education and assisting the families of first responders," Blue Origin wrote. Unlike the other NS-34 passengers, Russell is not a spaceflight rookie; he flew on the NS-28 mission in November 2024. Justin Sun, who is worth about $8.5 billion, according to Forbes. In addition to his Tron work, Sun is the ambassador and former Permanent Representative of Grenada to the World Trade Organization and serves as an advisor to the HTX crypto exchange. "A protege of Alibaba's Jack Ma, Sun was featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine in April 2025, where he was recognized as one of the most dynamic and outspoken figures in crypto and earning the moniker 'Crypto's Billionaire Barker' for his bold approach to innovation, advocacy and industry leadership," Blue Origin wrote. Sun's winning $28 million bid for the New Shepard seat in 2021 was donated to Club for the Future, Blue Origin's education nonprofit. Related Stories: — Winner of Blue Origin's $28 million auction to fly with 5 'space warriors' next year — Facts about New Shepard, Blue Origin's rocket for space tourism — Katy Perry and Gayle King launch to space with 4 others on historic all-female Blue Origin rocket flight NS-34 will be the 14th crewed New Shepard flight to date, and the fifth such mission of 2025. The most recent, NS-33, lifted off on June 29. New Shepard missions fly from Blue Origin's launch site in West Texas, near the town of Van Horn. Each one lasts 10 to 12 minutes from launch to the parachute-aided touchdown of the New Shepard crew capsule. (New Shepard's rocket also comes back down to Earth for a safe landing and eventual reuse.) New Shepard is an autonomous vehicle, so the passengers can sit back and simply enjoy the flight. That experience includes a few minutes of weightlessness and great views of Earth against the blackness of space, from an altitude of more than 62 miles (100 kilometers). Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Night sky glows purple above Vera Rubin Observatory
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. With no light pollution nearby, the night skies around the Vera Rubin Observatory glow in brilliant colors in this timelapse photo. What is it? The Vera Rubin Observatory is designed to study dark matter, which makes up 85% of our universe but is still unknown to scientists. Dark matter can create various effects in space thanks to its gravity, such as lensing, which astronomers can capture with the observatory's telescopes, hoping to find more about what makes up dark matter. Astronomers are also using these telescopes to study dark energy as well as the Milky Way galaxy and other structures in our universe. Where is it? The Vera Rubin Observatory is located in Cerro Pachón in Chile at an elevation of 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level. Why is it amazing? In this image, the observatory's opening can be seen thanks to the glow of its its calibration LEDs. As the telescope scans the skies once every three days with the world's largest digital camera, the calibration process helps ensure all the equipment is working properly. The observatory has just begun its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) mission, where it will repeatedly scan the southern sky. Using the largest camera, the observatory captures detailed images that are so large they require a "data butler" to help manage them. Despite the size, the images could be the key to cracking the case of what dark matter truly is. Want to learn more? You can read more about the Vera Rubin Observatory, the legacy of Vera Rubin, and the hunt for dark matter. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Yahoo
Researchers pack a "quantum light factory" into a 1mm² CMOS chip — combines photonics, electronics, and quantum hardware with traditional silicon manufacturing that can achieve mass scale
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Researchers from Boston University, UC Berkeley, and Northwestern University have created something that sounds straight out of a sci-fi movie: a 'quantum light factory' squeezed onto a 1 mm² silicon chip. Built using a standard 45 nm CMOS manufacturing process—the same kind used for standard x86 and ARM processors—this breakthrough brings quantum hardware a step closer to the world of mass production. The work, published in Nature Electronic, could pave the way for scalable quantum computing that doesn't require exotic setups, instead relying on mass production techniques that we already employ today. Think of this chip as a prototype for a future quantum factory line. It packs 12 tiny silicon loops, called "microring resonators," each acting as a generator of photon pairs with special quantum properties. These photon pairs are the lifeblood of many quantum technologies, but producing them usually requires fragile lab setups. Here, they're generated directly on a chip no bigger than a fingernail. What makes this remarkable is that the chip doesn't just produce quantum light; it's more about keeping that light stable. Microring resonators are powerful but temperamental—small temperature changes or manufacturing quirks can throw them out of tune, halting the photon flow. To solve this, the researchers built a feedback system directly into the chip; each resonator has a tiny photodiode to monitor its performance, along with miniature heaters and control circuits that adjust it on the fly. This self-tuning approach means all 12 resonators can work together in perfect sync, without the bulky stabilization equipment usually needed. 'This is a small step, but an important one,' said Miloš Popović, associate professor at Boston University and one of the senior authors. 'It shows we can build repeatable, controllable quantum systems in commercial semiconductor foundries.' That's the real story here—this isn't just a niche, bleeding-edge lab demo, but proof that quantum chips can be made with the same industrial techniques used to build CPUs and GPUs. Of course, quantum computing is nowhere near the maturity of standard semiconductors powering our devices today, but this is a step closer to that eventuality. Let's talk about the most important revelation. The team's choice of CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) is a game-changer. CMOS is the backbone of modern electronics, used by companies like TSMC to mass-produce everything from smartphones to supercomputers. While the 45 nm node used here isn't cutting-edge, it's proven, cost-effective, and compatible with the vast infrastructure of silicon manufacturing. The chip was built using a platform co-developed with GlobalFoundries and Ayar Labs, a company already leading the charge in optical interconnects for AI and high-performance computing. This overlap with the AI world is no coincidence. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently called out microring resonators—like those on this chip—as key components for scaling AI hardware via optical connections. This new research shows that the same photonics technology could also unlock scalable quantum systems. It's not hard to imagine a future where quantum and AI hardware share similar silicon platforms. Moreover, Nvidia is already heavily investing in this field, so we can only expect development to ramp up. The term 'quantum light factory' isn't just for flair, either. Just as classical chips rely on streams of electrons and optical networks depend on laser light, future quantum technologies will need a steady supply of quantum light. By proving that these quantum light sources can be built, stabilized, and replicated on silicon, the team has shown that quantum hardware can move beyond one-off experiments and into something that can be scaled like traditional computing. Some of the researchers involved are already taking this expertise into industry roles. Team members have joined companies like PsiQuantum, Ayar Labs, and Google X, all of which are betting heavily on photonic and quantum technologies. It's another sign that this field is moving rapidly from academic research to real-world products, even if they're sometimes more fun-oriented than revolutionary. Backed by the National Science Foundation's Future of Semiconductors (FuSe) program, the Packard Fellowship, and the Catalyst Foundation, the project shows how far interdisciplinary collaboration can go. Photonics, electronics, and quantum optics are worlds apart, but this chip proves they can be brought together on a commercial platform. If Intel's 4004 microprocessor marked the start of mass-produced computing power, this 1 mm² quantum light factory could be remembered as the first step toward mass-produced quantum hardware. What once needed an entire lab bench now fits onto a silicon wafer—and that's a leap worth paying attention to. Who knows? Maybe a decade from now, you'll be seeing a new TSMC competing for quantum computing excellence, especially now that there's already an operating system for it out there. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
