Latest news with #Trifid
1News
2 hours ago
- Science
- 1News
Largest digital camera ever built releases its first shots of the universe
The largest digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe — 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 morning's headlines in 90 seconds including Iran's retaliation, Auckland Council's catering cost, and the new way to look deep into space. (Source: 1News) The observatory's first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth. A light-year is around 9.4 trillion kilometres. ADVERTISEMENT A small section of the observatory's total view of the Virgo cluster. (Source: Associated Press) 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
5 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
The largest digital camera ever built has released its first glamour shots of the universe
NEW YORK (AP) — The largest digital camera ever built released its first glamour 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. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Adithi Ramakrishnan, The Associated Press
New York Post
6 hours ago
- Science
- New York Post
Largest camera ever built captures eye-popping images of millions of distant stars and galaxies
The first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory showed off a breathtaking preview of its capabilities — capturing millions of stars and galaxies light-years from Earth, along with thousands of never-before-seen asteroids. The observatory — perched atop Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes Mountains — will train its high-powered 27.5-foot Simonyi Survey Telescope at the night sky over the next decade to give astronomers an unprecedented look at the cosmos. 3 The approximately $810 million Vera C. Rubin observatory took nearly two decades to complete. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Matsopoulos Advertisement The newly released images were compiled from around 10 hours of test observations, showing swirling clouds of pink and golden dust that make up the Trifid nebula and a large cluster of galaxies known as the Virgo cluster — both located thousands of light-years away. In all, the video made from the first 1,100 test images shows around 10 million distant galaxies in the camera's wide-view lens, a tiny fraction of the approximately 20 billion galaxies the Rubin observatory is hoping to capture over the course of its work. 'NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will capture more information about our universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined,' National Science Foundation Chief of Staff Brian Stone told CNN. Advertisement The test images also uncovered 2,104 asteroids that had never before been seen in our solar system, including seven 'near-Earth' asteroids — those within about 30 million miles of Earth's orbit. Scientists at the observatory said none of them pose any threat to our planet. Images of the asteroids are expected to be shared with the public on Monday. Typical telescopes based in space or on the ground are capable of spying around 20,000 asteroids each year, while the Rubin Observatory is expected to discover millions of the rocky space objects in just the next two years alone, according to the US National Science Foundation, which funded the observatory along with the US Department of Energy. Advertisement 3 First images included the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas, both thousands of light-years from Earth. AP The primary objective of the $810 million observatory, which took approximately 20 years to build, is to create an ultra-high-definition movie of the images it captures over the next 10 years known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. The resulting time-lapse compilation will show details like comets and asteroids zooming by, exploding stars and distant galaxies transforming over time. 3 Another image captured showed a large cluster of galaxies called the Virgo cluster, representing just a fraction of the 20 billion galaxies the observatory is expected to image over the next 10 years. AP Advertisement '[Rubin] will enable us to explore galaxies, stars in the Milky Way, objects in the solar system, and all in a truly new way. Since we take images of the night sky so quickly and so often, (it) will detect millions of changing objects literally every night,' Aaron Roodman, a professor of particle physics and astrophysics at Stanford University, told the outlet. The observatory's unique capabilities will help other powerful telescopes direct their focus, acting as a 'discovery machine' to discover other interesting areas of the universe that warrant a closer look. The telescope's namesake, Vera C. Rubin, is considered one of the most influential female astronomers of all time. She is credited with providing some of the first evidence proving the existence of dark matter, the mysterious substance that makes up much of our universe.
Vancouver Sun
8 hours ago
- Science
- Vancouver Sun
The largest digital camera ever built releases its first shots of the universe
NEW YORK — The largest digital camera ever built released its first 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 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 10 trillion kilometres. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 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.
Glasgow Times
9 hours ago
- Science
- Glasgow Times
Largest digital camera ever built reveals its first shots of the universe
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.
