Latest news with #C.RubinObservatory
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
World's largest digital camera to help new Vera Rubin Observatory make a 'time-lapse record of the universe' (video)
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A major milestone with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has been reached with the installation of the telescope's enormous LSST Camera — the last optical component required before the last phase of testing can begin. The car-sized Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Camera that was recently installed on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is the largest digital camera ever built and will be used to capture detailed images of the southern hemisphere sky over a decade. "The installation of the LSST Camera on the telescope is a triumph of science and engineering," said Harriet Kung, Acting Director of the Department of Energy's Office of Science in a statement. "We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce." The telescope is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science and is named after Dr. Vera C. Rubin, an American astronomer whose work provided strong evidence for the existence of dark matter. Along with her colleague Kent Ford, Rubin observed that in the numerous galaxies they studied, stars at the outer edges were moving just as fast as those near the center. This was unusual because, according to Newtonian physics and Kepler's laws of planetary motion, objects farther from the center of a gravitational system should orbit more slowly due to the weaker gravitational pull. After accounting for all visible matter, the gravitational force from the observed mass wasn't enough to keep these fast-moving stars bound to the galaxy. Without additional mass providing extra gravitational pull, the galaxies should have been flying apart. This discrepancy led to the conclusion that an unseen form of mass, now known as dark matter, was holding them together. Following its namesake, the Rubin telescope will investigate the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter with cutting-edge technology. Its state-of-the-art mirror design, highly sensitive camera, rapid survey speed and advanced computing infrastructure each represent breakthroughs in their respective fields. Every few nights, it will survey the entire sky, creating an "ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the universe," the statement adds. Each image will be so massive that displaying it would require 400 ultra-high-definition TV screens. "This unique movie will bring the night sky to life, yielding a treasure trove of discoveries: asteroids and comets, pulsating stars, and supernova explosions," states the observatory's website. While the LSST Camera is an engineering marvel, its installation was equally challenging. In March 2025, after months of testing in Rubin Observatory's clean room, the summit team used a vertical platform lift to move the camera to the telescope floor. A custom lifting device then carefully positioned and secured it on the telescope for the first time. RELATED STORIES: — How Earth's new Rubin Observatory will usher in the next era of asteroid space missions — Rubin Observatory aces 1st image tests, gets ready to use world's largest digital camera — Scientists alarmed as Rubin Observatory changes biography of astronomer Vera Rubin amid Trump's push to end DEI efforts "Mounting the LSST Camera onto the Simonyi Telescope was an effort requiring intense planning, teamwork across the entire observatory and millimeter-precision execution," said Freddy Muñoz, Rubin Observatory Mechanical Group Lead. "Watching the LSST Camera take its place on the telescope is a proud moment for us all." Over the coming weeks, the LSST Camera's utilities and systems will be connected and tested. Soon, it will be ready to capture detailed images of the night sky. The Rubin telescope, under construction in Cerro Pachón, Chile, is expected to see first light in 2025.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Who was Vera Rubin? Dark matter astronomer's legacy continues through new observatory
CERRO PACHON, Chile - Driving up the mountain road to reach the U.S. National Science Foundation's newest observatory in Chile, which will begin observations later this year, astronomer Beth Willman was delighted to see a sign. "It says 'Vera C. Rubin Observatory this way,' and it was a simple but powerful moment for me to realize it was really there," Willman said. A quick internet search will reveal why having a woman's name on a $571 million science facility is a milestone. There are no others like it, and no one like Rubin. "In the back of my head, I had wanted the National Lab to be named after Vera Rubin because of her incredible leadership and legacy. And I was thrilled to hear that work was already ongoing to name what is now the Vera C. Rubin Observatory after her," Willman said. Willman was the deputy director of the Rubin construction project and now serves as the executive director of the LSST Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. The Observatory's LSST is the world's largest digital camera, and it will create the largest astronomical movie yet of the southern hemisphere sky over 10 years. In March, the LSST was installed at the mountaintop observatory in Chile, and the facility has entered the final stages of testing before operations begin in the coming months. The U.S. Department of Energy and National Science Foundation-funded facility, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, is named after the astronomer credited with the first evidence of dark matter. Many in the scientific community still believe she was overlooked for the Nobel Prize. Rubin died in 2016 at 88 years old. "When I think of Vera Rubin, I think of breaking scientific barriers, I think of directly amplifying the future of scientists through training and mentoring future scientists, and I think of the fact that she had to break cultural barriers in order to break scientific barriers," Willman said. Rubin's work in the 1970s led to the first evidence that the universe has something we still don't know what it is, known as dark matter. Fifty years later, scientists know about 80% of the universe is made of dark matter. "She did that by pioneering studies of galaxies. In order to do her pioneer studies of galaxies she had to go to observatories where women hadn't been permitted to go before," Willman said. Rubin made these discoveries while raising four young children, something Willman relates to: balancing work in a male-dominated field and being a mother. Telescope Used To Study Mysteries Of The Universe Releases First Images In Stunning Detail In 2010, Willman brought her students from Haverford College to listen to Rubin speak at Bryn Mawr College, where she could ask her about this balancing act. "I took my whole lab of students over there to hear her speak as really a role model and a pioneering example of how somebody can be the leader of their field and change the way we understand the universe while also being a parent," Willman said. At the time, as a mom to an 18-month-old daughter, it was top of mind for Willman. "She said it was about her own support resources that she had in place that in order to accomplish, you look around your community, your family for the support that you need," Willman recalls. "I was so fascinated by that response. I don't know what I expected. I expected some, you know, superhero swashbuckling stories. She was just a humble and powerful and brilliant woman, very practical and down to Earth." All four of Rubin's children went on to be scientists, her son, Allan Rubin told the NSF. The world will soon hear Vera Rubin's name a lot more for a few reasons. Her face will be on a new quarter released this June, right around the time Rubin Observatory plans to release the first images. In the decades to come, budding scientists will credit discoveries and new findings to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, building on the work of a celebrated astronomer who sought to inspire others when women didn't have their own restrooms in some science article source: Who was Vera Rubin? Dark matter astronomer's legacy continues through new observatory
