Latest news with #southernhemisphere
NHK
6 days ago
- Science
- NHK
World's largest digital camera captures clear images of galaxies
A team at an astronomical observatory in Chile has released images by "the world's largest digital camera", which can capture 3.2 billion pixels. The NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, jointly set up by US institutions, is equipped with an 8.4-meter telescope and a 3.2-gigapixel camera. It has been recognized as the world's largest digital camera by Guinness World Records. The equipment is said to provide the widest field of view achieved by a telescope of its class -- wide enough to capture an area of the sky equivalent to 45 full moons in a single exposure. Images taken between April and May were made public for the first time. One composite image, compiled from 678 photos, reveals galaxies located thousands of light years from Earth in the direction of the Sagittarius constellation. The image clearly shows gases and dust -- the materials that form stars. Another composite, made from 1,185 photos captured in the direction of Virgo, reportedly contains around 10 million galaxies. The team plans to continuously photograph the entire sky over the southern hemisphere over the next ten years. Scientists hope to make new discoveries, such as finding asteroids within the solar system and identifying how dark matter distorts space. Dark matter is a mysterious substance making up the majority of a galaxy's mass and acting as an invisible glue that keeps stars, dust, and gas together. Associate Professor Utsumi Yousuke of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan and a member of the team said he expects numerous astronomical questions will be answered by observing the universe with an unprecedented breadth and depth.
The Guardian
14-07-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Starwatch: use the moon to find Saturn before its pirouette in the sky
The moon will help us track down Saturn, the sixth planet in the solar system, this week. Currently residing in the constellation of Pisces, the fishes, Saturn is gradually building in brightness as the Earth's orbit is carrying the two planets closer together. This year, the closest approach between them will occur on 21 September. In the meantime, the moon can be useful as your guide to locate Saturn and then watch it over the coming months as the planet performs a lazy pirouette in the sky, known as retrograde motion. This is an optical illusion caused by our changing line of sight to the planet as Earth overtakes it on the inside. The chart shows the view looking east from London on 16 July at midnight BST, soon after the moon and Saturn have risen. The moon will be almost 20 days old and in its waning gibbous phase, rising later each night. Just over 72% of the moon's visible surface will be illuminated on this night, and it will be 373,842km away from Earth. Saturn, on the other hand, will be 1,368m km away. The conjunction will be easily visible from the southern hemisphere.
The Guardian
30-06-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Starwatch: Spica greets the passing moon
This week, the bright star Spica greets the passing moon. The chart shows the view looking south-west from London at 22.15 BST on 3 July 2025. At 8.3 days old, and with 60% of its visible surface illuminated, the moon will be just past its first quarter (half moon) phase and into its waxing gibbous phase, on the way to becoming full next week. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo, the maiden. It is the 15th brightest star in the night sky and lies about 250 light-years away from Earth. Although it appears as a single object to even our most advanced telescopes, detailed analysis reveals that Spica is in fact a binary star. It is composed of two giant stars, separated by about 18m km, that orbit each other once every four days. One of these component stars has a diameter just under eight times the size of the sun's diameter and the other is four times the diameter. Together they give out more than 12,000 times the light from our sun. From the southern hemisphere, the conjunction will appear to be higher in the sky, and therefore a little easier to see.
CBC
23-06-2025
- Science
- CBC
New giant telescope reveals its 1st images of our universe
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which houses a telescope with the largest digital camera ever built, has revealed its first images. The telescope sits atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, under some of the most pristine skies in the world. It houses the 8.4-metre Simonyi Survey Telescope with the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera, and will take images of the skies in the southern hemisphere for the next 10 years. It is able to cover the entire night sky every few nights. Every night, it will produce a whopping 20 terrabytes of data with its 3,200-megapixel camera. In order to show an image at full size, you'd need 400 ultra high-definition televisions. "The entire image is 50 times larger than what we are seeing here on screen," Zeljko Ivezic, director of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, said during a news conference. The size of the images released Monday is just a fraction of the actual image the telescope has taken, said Ivezic. Renée Hložek, an associate professor at the Dunlap Institute and the David A. Dunlap department for astronomy and astrophysics at the University of Toronto, is also on the dark energy working group at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. She is excited about what the new telescope will reveal about the expansion of the universe. "It's game-changing," she said of the observatory. "I've been waiting for this data my entire academic career." Unravelling the mysteries of the universe One of the goals of this novel telescope is to help astronomers better understand dark matter and dark energy, both of which are invisible. Scientists know they exist because of how they interact in our universe. We only see roughly five per cent of what exists in our universe. Dark energy — which is accelerating the expansion of the universe — makes up about 70 per cent. Astronomers use special stars to measure the distances of galaxies. That in turn helps astronomers calculate the expansion of the universe. Hložek said that at the moment there are roughly 10,000 of these stars, but Rubin will reveal 500,000. "So are we going to be able to really pin down the nature of this cosmic acceleration in a way we've never done before?" Hložek said. WATCH | See the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas: See the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas 2 hours ago Duration 0:59 Then there's dark matter, which is believed to make up roughly 25 per cent of the universe. The term "dark matter" was coined in the 1930s by astronomer Fritz Zwicky while observing the Coma galaxy cluster, which contains roughly 1,000 galaxies. He couldn't explain why the galaxies in the cluster were moving faster than they should be using the theories at the time. Then in the 1970s, astronomer Vera Rubin confirmed the existence of dark matter after studying how individual galaxies rotated. Under the laws of physics, stars at the outer rim of galaxies should be moving slower than the ones near the centre, but instead they are rotating much faster. Rubin determined that something was holding together the stars in galaxies, preventing them from flying apart: dark matter. The Rubin Observatory will also map the Milky Way, look for asteroids and film the largest astronomical movie ever made. WATCH | See a swarm of newly discovered asteroids: See a swarm of new asteroids 2 hours ago Duration 0:58 The first-look data that was released Monday also showed the discovery of more than 2,000 asteroids. But rest assured that none of them are on a collision course with Earth, Ivezics said. "There were no surprises," he said, regarding the number of asteroids discovered. All the images and data are available to astronomers around the world, as well as the general public, said Clare Hicks, astronomy outreach specialist at the Rubin Observatory. There will also be citizen science projects, where the public can contribute to new discoveries. As for what astronomers hope to find with this powerful telescope, Ivezics said: "We'll be looking for unknown unknowns." The astronomers at the observatory are relieved that it is finally up and running after decades of planning and construction. "It's great," said Sandrine Thomas, telescope and site project scientist at the observatory. "It's really an amazing achievement."
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Get a first look of 1st cosmic images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Watch live
Stargazers are about to get a glimpse of the universe like never before when the new Vera C. Rubin Observatory unveils its first images. The powerful observatory under construction for years in Chile is set to spend the next decade exploring the mysteries of the cosmos in unprecedented detail. And on Monday, June 23, the operators of the groundbreaking telescope are going to release images to the public showing just exactly what the instrument can do. The National Science Foundation, which jointly funds and operates the observatory with the Department of Energy's Office of Science, has so far only released a handful of images and a brief video of the telescope in action. More images and video are on the way, all showcasing what the largest camera ever built has captured within just hours of beginning its observations. Here's what to know about the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and how to watch live as the first images it captured are released to the public. Named for famous astronomer Vera Rubin, the observatory is perched on a mountain in northern Chile in the foothills of the Andes. Astronomers say the location is both high and dry enough to provide clear skies for observing the universe. For the next 10 years, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will observe and collect data on the southern night sky. By recording the entire sky once every few nights, the observatory will eventually create a time-lapse record serving as "the largest astronomical movie of all time," according to its website. Plenty of cosmic wonders are expected to be revealed by the telescope, including thousands of previously unseen asteroids and millions of distant stars and galaxies. "With Rubin data we will gain a better understanding of our Universe, delve into the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and reveal answers to questions we have yet to imagine," the website states. The first spectacular images the Vera C. Rubin Observatory has captured are expected to be released at 11 a.m. ET Monday, June 23, 2025. The National Science Foundation and Department of Energy will host a full reveal event streaming on the agency's YouTube channel. Live watch parties are also taking place all over the world. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Vera C. Rubin Observatory prepares to unveil cosmos: How to watch live
