This image combines 678 separate images taken by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. Courtesy: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
By Alexandra Kelley,
Staff Correspondent, Nextgov/FCW
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The Legacy Survey of Space and Time telescope at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory leverages novel technological systems to search for interstellar objects and study dark matter.
The National Science Foundation and Department of Energy unveiled a new observatory on Monday that features a powerful telescope capable of delivering precise imagery of outer space.
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time telescope will be housed in the new NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Located in Chile and jointly funded by the two agencies, the observatory’s telescope is engineered with the largest digital camera ever constructed. The LSST camera’s 3200 megapixel resolution scans the sky intermittently to create a panoramic view of outer space and cosmic objects, with the capability to zoom in and out for more precise views of previously unseen objects.
When combined with a novel three-mirror design to improve visuals into far distances and dark cosmic environments, the Rubin Observatory can produce detailed images of formations in space, such as star clusters, galaxies and nebulas.
$571 million was allocated to the National Science Foundation to oversee the completion of the observatory construction project, with help from Energy, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and academic partners.
“Carrying out this project, in partnership with NSF and the private and international partners, has enabled us to bring all of our strengths to this amazing observatory,” said Kathy Turner, the Rubin Observatory program manager at Energy. “I am honored to work with all of them and look forward to our continued partnership. This observatory represents a giant leap in our ability to explore the cosmos and unwrap the mysteries of the universe.”
In addition to providing striking cosmic images, the LSST camera generates vast amounts of new data, amounting to about 10 to 20 terabytes of data nightly. This data is then prepared and shared with partner scientists in the U.S., France and the United Kingdom for them to query and analyze.
The data on outer space and its objects will also be available to citizen science communities via a proprietary corresponding Rubin Science Platform and other sharing commitments to entities like the Minor Planet Center at Harvard University.
The Rubin Observatory’s first goal is to gather precise imagery and data in the coming decade that will define and contextualize the intergalactic environment.
“Today, we celebrate the culmination of two decades of scientific and technological innovation that have given us the ability to look into the cosmos, to understand our universe itself,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said. “This is the Vera Rubin telescope in Chile, and I want to congratulate all those at the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, those working at [SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory] out here in California, we’re I’m standing right now, and those on the ground in Chile on this tremendous technological achievement that truly will bring an understanding of our universe simply not possible before.”