Tag: LSST
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Rubin Observatory team discovers 11,000 new asteroids, with help from University of Washington software
A model of the inner solar system shows asteroids discovered by the Rubin Observatory in light teal. Previously known asteroids are dark blue. The model highlights almost 12,700 asteroids that the Rubin team has discovered over the course of a year and a half. (Photo: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / NOIRLab / SLAC /…
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The Rubin Observatory is throwing a big party to reveal its first pictures — and you’re invited
After more than 20 years of planning and construction, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ready for its grand opening, and the world is invited. The observatory in the foothills of the Chilean Andes features a monster of a telescope, with an 8.4-meter-wide (28-foot-wide) mirror, coupled with what’s said to be the world’s largest digital camera. It will survey…
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Software suggests Rubin Observatory will discover millions of solar system objects
A new type of computer simulation predicts that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will discover millions of previously undetected objects in the solar system over the course of the coming decade. The discovery campaign, which is due to begin in earnest later this year, should expand the known small-body populations in the solar…
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‘We have a telescope!’ Rubin Observatory construction team installs its huge mirror
The Simonyi Survey Telescope now has its mirrors and a camera in place. (Credit: Rubin Observatory) The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope in Chile has now been equipped with all three of its mirrors, plus a camera for good measure. Last week’s installation of the telescope’s combined primary/tertiary mirror represented a major…
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Scientists successfully test algorithm for identifying potentially hazardous asteroids
A bird’s-eye view of the solar system shows the orbital path for Earth in blue and the projected orbit for the asteroid known as 2022 SF289 at its closest approach in green. Orbits of Venus and Mars are shown in orange and red. (Credit: Joachim Moeyens / University of Washington / OpenSpace) A new technique…
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Next-gen telescope project honors astronomer Vera Rubin and billionaire backer Charles Simonyi
Artwork shows the Vera Rubin Observatory’s Simonyi Survey Telescope scanning the sky. (LSST Illustration) The next great ground-based astronomical observatory, previously known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, has been named after the late astronomer Vera Rubin — with a nod to Seattle software billionaire Charles Simonyi as well. Thanks to an act of Congress…
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Rapid-response telescope team shares greatest hits from ZTF sky scanner
This composite image of the Andromeda galaxy was made by combining images from the Zwicky Transient Facility in three bands of visible light. The image covers 2.9 square degrees, which is one-sixteenth of ZTF’s full field of view. (ZTF Photo / D. Goldstein / R. Hurt / Caltech) A state-of-the-art astronomical camera system in California…