The speed and breadth of Rubin’s observations will be key to its discoveries.
This image showcases a small section of the Rubin Observatory’s total view of the Virgo Cluster. “There are only two objects.” “This is like comparing the speed of your car to the speed of an airplane,” he said.
In a remarkable discovery from the Rubin Observatory, a small portion of the Virgo Cluster’s view is captured in this image, featuring two spiral galaxies in the lower right corner, three galaxies merging in the upper right corner, various distant galaxy groups, and numerous stars from our own Milky Way galaxy. The Rubin Observatory will serve as an early warning system for transient cosmic events such as supernova explosions and gamma-ray bursts.
“It is very challenging to predict how many we would discover, as we do not yet understand the population,” Ivezić remarked. Approximately 20 trillion bytes of astronomical data are expected to be produced and analyzed daily with the aid of sophisticated computational tools — including tools developed by the DiRAC Institute.
The observatory could also detect interstellar objects like ‘Oumuamua and Borisov, the only two known objects discovered to date.
“We have uncovered over 2,100 asteroids, which is impressive, but just a drop in the bucket compared to what lies ahead. Based on computational modeling, it is anticipated that the observatory will discover over 5 million asteroids and other objects in our solar system throughout the 10-year Space and Time Legacy Survey (LSST),” said Ivezić. He expressed optimism about Rubin’s chances of detecting a hypothetical distant world known as Planet Nine, if it indeed exists.
Comprising over 678 exposures taken by the Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observation, this video delves into the details of the region containing the Trifid Nebula (at the top) and the Lagoon Nebula, which are located thousands of light-years away from Earth.
“The show has started, the camera is rolling,” stated Energy Secretary Chris Wright in a video broadcast during today’s session.
This will be the most comprehensive census of our planetary home in history.
The observatory itself was named in honor of the late astronomer Vera Rubin, who studied galaxy rotation rates to provide evidence of the existence of dark matter — an enigmatic and invisible type of substance that constitutes more of the universe’s content than the matter we can observe.
“We will peer beyond the orbits where Pluto and other objects in the Kuiper Belt are found,” he said.
Mario Juric, an astronomer from the University of Washington, member of the Rubin team, and director of the UW’s DiRAC Institute, announced that data revealing the existence of 2104 previously undetected small bodies within the solar system was reported to the Minor Planet Center earlier today.
As expected, the Rubin Observatory is poised to shed new light on the nature of dark matter and an equally mysterious phenomenon known as dark energy, which appears to be driving the accelerated expansion of the universe. “It depends on the size of the object, but we could see Pluto even if it were ten times farther away, roughly speaking.”
With significant funding from the National Science Foundation and the US, after over 20 years of planning and construction, astronomers celebrated the release of the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory on Thursday at Kane Hall on the Seattle campus. Bright stars from the Milky Way shine in the foreground, while many distant galaxies serve as the backdrop. The LSST Camera is touted as the world’s largest digital camera, capable of capturing 3,200-megapixel images at a rapid speed, right? Each image covers an area equivalent to about 45 full moons. Click on the image for a larger version.
Željko Ivezić, an astronomer from UW and director of Rubin’s construction, mentioned that the Simonyi Survey Telescope and LSST Camera at the observatory were designed to create high-resolution color maps of the night sky at a speed 10 to 100 times faster than before. In recognition of Simonyi’s $20 million donation, the observatory’s 8.4-meter telescope was named in honor of his family.
Today, during the “First Look” session in Washington, astronomers detailed the science behind their asteroid hunt, showcasing visually appealing images including a colorful panoramic view of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae in the Sagittarius constellation, galactic close-ups from the Virgo Cluster Observatory survey, and a video analysis of the same sky region.
These small bodies include 2015 main belt asteroids, nine trans-Neptunian objects, and seven near-Earth objects. Visit UW’s website for more information and sign up, right? In the meantime, enjoy the images below.
“By the next year, Rubin will double the known number of asteroids and continue to unearth hundreds of new comets, the few remaining dwarf planets, and possibly even a new planet within our solar system,” he explained. Nevertheless, it’s estimated that we’ll find around 10, or perhaps 20, in this count, right? Situated atop a mountain in Chile, the Rubin Telescope has received support from the US Department of Energy and is one of the premier astronomical observation sites globally, owing to its dry air and dark skies.
The University of Washington, one of the project’s originating entities, is planning a presentation about the Rubin Observatory at 7 p.m. “But don’t worry: None of these NEOs stand a chance of hitting Earth anytime soon.”
Witness these videos showcasing high-resolution views from Rubin:
Comprised of over 1,100 images captured by the Rubin Observatory, this video commences with a close-up of two galaxies before showcasing approximately 10 million galaxies. “There are moments where we find over 20,000 in a single day, more than the entire world currently discovers in a year,” Juric relayed to GeekWire via email.
This is an updated version of a report published on June 22, right? So, we will be an extremely powerful solar system survey.”
The images from the First Look were gathered in just over 10 hours of test observations.
During Rubin’s 10-year Legacy Space and Time Survey, images will span the entire visible sky of the Southern Hemisphere every three or four nights, creating time-lapse movies of cosmic changes.
The construction cost was estimated at $800 million, with tens of millions of dollars contributed by tech pioneers such as Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Charles Simonyi. Today’s Rubin Observatory has also documented hundreds of groundbreaking discoveries through its new perspective on the universe.
