Latest news with #LSST
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
A new observatory is assembling the most complete time-lapse record of the night sky ever
On 23 June 2025, the world will get a look at the first images from one of the most powerful telescopes ever built: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Perched high in the Chilean Andes, the observatory will take hundreds of images of the southern hemisphere sky, every night for 10 years. In doing so, it will create the most complete time-lapse record of our Universe ever assembled. This scientific effort is known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Rather than focusing on small patches of sky, the Rubin Observatory will scan the entire visible southern sky every few nights. Scientists will use this rolling deep-sky snapshot to track supernovae (exploding stars), asteroids, black holes, and galaxies as they evolve and change in real time. This is astronomy not as a static snapshot, but as a cosmic story unfolding night by night. At the heart of the observatory lies a remarkable piece of engineering: a digital camera the size of a small car and weighing over three tonnes. With a staggering 3,200 megapixels, each image it captures has enough detail to spot a golf ball from 25km away. Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK's latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. Each image is so detailed that it would take hundreds of ultra-high-definition TV screens to display it in full. To capture the universe in colour, the camera uses enormous filters — each about the size of a dustbin lid — that allow through different types of light, from ultraviolet to near-infrared. The observatory was first proposed in 2001, and construction at the Cerro Pachón ridge site in northern Chile began in April 2015. The first observations with a low-resolution test camera were carried out in October 2024, setting up the first images using the main camera, to be unveiled in June. The observatory is designed to tackle some of astronomy's biggest questions. For instance, by measuring how galaxies cluster and move, the Rubin Observatory will help scientists investigate the nature of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the Universe. As a primary goal, it will map the large-scale structure of the Universe and investigate dark matter, the invisible form of matter that makes up 27% of the cosmos. Dark matter acts as the 'scaffolding' of the universe, a web-like structure that provides a framework for the formation of galaxies. The observatory is named after the US astronomer Dr Vera Rubin, whose groundbreaking work uncovered the first strong evidence for dark matter – the very phenomenon this telescope will explore in unprecedented detail. As a woman in a male-dominated field, Rubin overcame numerous obstacles and remained a tireless advocate for equality in science. She died in 2016 at the age of 88, and her name on this observatory is a tribute not only to her science, but to her perseverance and her legacy of inclusion. Closer to home, Rubin will help find and track millions of asteroids and other objects that come near Earth – helping warn astronomers of any potential collisions. The observatory will also monitor stars that change in brightness, which can reveal planets orbiting them. And it will capture rare and fleeting cosmic events, such as the collision of very dense objects called neutron stars, which release sudden bursts of light and ripples in space known as gravitational waves. What makes this observatory particularly exciting is not just what we expect it to find, but what we can't yet imagine. Many astronomical breakthroughs have come from chance: strange flashes in the night sky and puzzling movements of objects. Rubin's massive, continuous data stream could reveal entirely new classes of objects or unknown physical processes. But capturing this 'movie of the universe' depends on something we often take for granted: dark skies. One of the growing challenges facing astronomers is light pollution from satellite mega-constellations – a group of many satellites working together. These satellites reflect sunlight and can leave bright streaks across telescope images, potentially interfering with the very discoveries Rubin is designed to make. While software can detect and remove some of these trails, doing so adds complexity, cost and can degrade the data. Fortunately, solutions are already being explored. Rubin Observatory staff are developing simulation tools to predict and reduce satellite interference. They are also working with satellite operators to dim or reposition spacecraft. These efforts are essential – not just for Rubin, but for the future of space science more broadly. Rubin is a collaboration between the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, with global partners contributing to data processing and scientific analysis. Importantly, much of the data will be publicly available, offering researchers, students and citizen scientists around the world the chance to make discoveries of their own. The 'first-look' event, which will unveil the first images from the observatory, will be livestreamed in English and Spanish, and celebrations are planned at venues around the world. For astronomers, this is a once-in-a-generation moment – a project that will transform our view of the universe, spark public imagination and generate scientific insights for decades to come. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Noelia Noël does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Belfast Telegraph
5 days ago
- General
- Belfast Telegraph
New facility to detect millions of new solar system objects, say NI-led astronomers
The brand new facility at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will revolutionise the world's knowledge of the solar system's 'small bodies': asteroids, comets and other minor planets. At the heart of the Rubin Observatory is the fastest moving telescope equipped with the world's largest digital camera. A single image from the telescope covers a patch of sky roughly 45 times the area of the full moon. This 'wide-fast-deep' system will spend the next ten years observing the night sky to produce the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Astronomers say the system will provide unprecedented time-lapse footage of the cosmos and a powerful dataset with which to map the solar system. New open-source software has also been created to predict what discoveries are likely to be made, with a series of papers describing the software soon to be published by The Astronomical Journal. The group of astronomers has been led by Dr Meg Schwamb of Queen's University Belfast's School of Mathematics and Physics. Dr Schwamb said the world's knowledge of what objects fill the Earth's solar system 'is about to expand exponentially and rapidly'. QUB PhD student Joe Murtagh is one of the lead authors of the prediction studies and among those whose papers have been submitted to the Astronomical Journal. He said: 'It's very exciting – we expect that millions of new solar system objects will be detected and most of these will be picked up in the first few years of sky survey.' "With the LSST catalogue of solar system objects, our work shows that it will be like going from black-and-white television to brilliant colour.' Beyond just finding these new small bodies, Rubin Observatory will observe them multiple times in different optical filters, revealing their surface colours. Past solar system surveys, typically observed only in a single filter. To forecast which small bodies will be discovered, the team built Sorcha, the first end-to-end simulator that ingests Rubin's planned observing schedule. It applies assumptions on how Rubin Observatory observes and detects astronomical sources in its images with the best model of what the solar system and its small body reservoirs look like today. The team's simulations show that Rubin will map 127,000 near-Earth objects such as asteroids and comets whose orbits cross or approach the planet. It will also study over five million main-belt asteroids and 109,000 Jupiter Trojans, bodies which share Jupiter's orbit at stable 'Lagrange' points. Some 37,000 trans-Neptunian objects, which are residents of the distant Kuiper Belt, will also be mapped, along with around 1,500 to 2,000 Centaurs. The Sorcha code is open-source and freely available with the simulated catalogues, animations, and pre-prints of the papers publicly available at News Catch Up - Tuesday 3 June By making these resources available, the Sorcha team has enabled researchers worldwide to refine their tools and be ready for the flood of LSST data that Rubin will generate, advancing the understanding of the small bodies that illuminate the solar system like never before. Rubin Observatory is scheduled to unveil its first spectacular imagery at its 'First Look' event on June 23, offering the world an early glimpse of the survey's power. Full science operations are slated to begin later this year.
Telegraph
06-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Bosses of failing universities on bumper salaries to be ‘named and shamed'
The vice-chancellors of the UK's worst-performing universities will be 'named and shamed' for their salaries while failing to provide opportunities for graduates. League tables are to be published of institutions where students are not going on to good jobs or further education, under plans from the Department for Education. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, will aim to stop 'blasé' universities 'letting down' graduates, The Times has reported. The department has concerns that the universities have become unaccountable 'ivory towers' in which vice-chancellors are rewarded with increasing salaries despite poor results for students. The DfE is also planning to call for more evidence to show how students' job prospects are being improved with better value for money, for universities to retain their licence to operate. The list of 20 worst-performing universities, which used data showing the percentage of students who 'progress' into graduate jobs or higher education, was topped by the London School of Science & Technology (LSST). Only 40 per cent of those attending went on to graduate jobs or further education, according to the Office for Students, but Ali Jafar Zaidi, LSST's head, was paid £338,757 last year. On average, the top 20 worst-performing universities paid their vice-chancellors £280,000, with one receiving as much as £361,000. A Whitehall source told The Times: 'A hard rain is going to fall on universities that continue to be so blasé about executive pay increases while letting down students. 'This Government is determined to deliver greater value for money and better prospects for graduates as part of its Plan for Change. 'The days of the unaccountable ivory tower are over. Funding for universities will only come with the promise of major reform. 'We're going to ensure degrees deliver good jobs and opportunities, that teaching is high-quality, that universities offer good opportunities for people and help to drive up economic growth.' Elsewhere, Prof Michael Harkin, the vice-chancellor and principal of University College Birmingham – where 49 per cent of pupils went on to graduate jobs or further education – was paid £310,000. The highest paid was Prof Jean-Noël Ezingeard, the vice-chancellor of the University of Roehampton, who was paid £361,000 last year, despite the university being rated seventh worst for graduate progression. The Government is looking at increasing the 'conditions of registration' in what would also strengthen requirements to improve the quality of teaching. However, Prof David Maguire, the vice-chancellor of the University of East Anglia, said that the correlation between the salary of bosses and student outcomes was 'pretty tenuous'. Prof Maguire, who has overseen a 75 per cent progression rating, added: 'These depend on many things, not least the quality of the students coming and the subjects they study and their interest in obtaining jobs. 'Is that really the way we want to run the sector, with crude metrics? It's reducing and simplifying complexities to a single soundbite and trying to bully people in an argument doesn't seem a satisfactory way of doing it.'
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
