@VRubinObs@astrodon.social
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

VRubinObs

@VRubinObs@astrodon.social

Get ready for a new era in astronomy and astrophysics with Rubin Observatory! #astronomy #engineering #Astrodon #discovery

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

1...2...3...LIFT!

The 62-ton piece of glass that will soon become Rubin Observatory's combined primary/tertiary mirror was unboxed at the summit this week and lifted onto its steel support cell! 🧵

VRubinObs,
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

A team from the @uarizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab made the trip to Chile to complete the lift using a custom-made vacuum lifter called a "spider" 🕷️

Next up: integrating the glass with the cell, and then moving it to the coating chamber to get its shiny silver coating!

A thick white disk of glass with a blue protective coating on the top surface sits on a white platform. A complex web of white steel arms and suction cups is being lowered toward the glass.
A thick white disk of glass with a blue protective coating on the top surface sits on a white platform. A complex web of white steel arms and suction cups is being lowered toward the glass.
A close up view of the vacuum lifter suction cups attached to the protective blue surface of Rubin Observatory's thick 8.4-meter wide glass mirror

VRubinObs,
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

And no, we didn't order the mirror in blue by mistake--that's a protective Opti-Coat layer that keeps the vacuum lifter from damaging the surface of the glass. It'll be removed before the mirror is coated!

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Scanning…✅

Rubin Observatory is a “survey telescope”—but what does that mean?

Telescopes come in many forms. Some are built to study small areas of sky, in fine detail and high resolution.

Survey telescopes, however, map the cosmos by imaging the entire night sky🧵

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Time for a reintroduction!

Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a new facility being built on Cerro Pachón in Chile (you might know us by our former name: LSST). When complete, Rubin will image the sky every 3-4 nights for 10 years, using an 8.4m telescope & 3200 MP car-sized camera! 🧵

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

3…2…1…🚀

We’re bringing the Universe to YOU!

We're officially unveiling our suite of brand new interactive & online experiences designed specially for you to be able to explore Rubin Observatory technology, science, and people!

https://rubinobservatory.org/news/universe-to-you

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

To close out , we're celebrating our namesake, Dr. Vera C. Rubin ✨

Dr. Rubin was an accomplished American astronomer whose work provided convincing evidence for the existence of dark matter. Rubin Observatory was renamed in her honor in 2019.

VRubinObs,
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Once online starting in 2025, Rubin Observatory will night after night and produce a deluge of data that will help scientists understand more about about dark matter, among so many other fields of science! 🌌

We're proud to carry on Dr. Rubin's legacy

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

We're feeling exposed 🫣

Our staff recently removed a yellow cross-shaped "surrogate" mass from the telescope mount to make way for the real primary mirror cell!

The primary mirror isn't installed yet, though. For now, the cell has a metal surrogate mirror to use in testing.

The Rubin mirror cell surrogate mass on the platform lift. The surrogate mass is a criss-crossing structure of yellow steel. The mass is about as tall as a person, but several times larger in the other two dimensions. The observatory platform lift is a huge, open elevator used to transport large equipment. The lift is at its highest level, meaning that the portion of the building roof above it has been raised as well
Rubin's telescope mount suspended on its steel axis with the yellow cross-shaped surrogate mass attached beneath. The mount is an cylindrical open structure made of teal steel. Two large rings at the top are separated by a gap and held up by beams on the side. The mount base is a much thicker steel block with a circular opening for the eventual primary mirror.

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Full moon rising 🌕

This epic view of Rubin Observatory from March 24 was taken about 25km away near Andacollo, Chile, looking northeast toward Cerro Pachón.

Staff members Hernán Stockebrand and Mauricio Hernández spent months planning this shot—and it definitely paid off!

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Want to know more about Rubin Observatory, & prefer watching videos to reading?

We’ve got you—learn about Rubin & its science with our animated series!

Each video is only 2-3 min long, so watch them now or save this for later 🔖

🔗: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPINAcUH0dXbEQbSMDSKilynCN_KdEVyy

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Greater than the sum of its parts 💪

Rubin Observatory is a HUGE feat of engineering. It uniquely combines several new technologies, which will make its 10-year survey of the visible Southern sky possible.

Come along with us for a short tour of each one! 🧵

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

You're not from around here, are ya? ☄️

Interstellar objects come from star systems far, far away—& give scientists another way to learn about other systems.

With , scientists will find many interstellar objects that would've remained hidden!

🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/visitors-from-distant-stars

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Taking Rubin 'round the world! 🌏

Two of our staff are living it up in Taiwan this week as they present Rubin's interactive classroom materials at the 2023 International Conference on K-12 Astronomy Education.

Check out our materials for yourself at rubinobservatory.org/education!

The 2023 International Conference on K-112 Astronomy Education group photo. A group of about 25 people sits in auditorium style seats on either side of an aisle. Stretching across the aisle is a blue banner with the conference information on it.

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

It's not every day we get to throw a welcome home party 🎉

Last week marked a big construction achievement with the move of our 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror into the main observatory building! It'll now go through preparations to get its shiny silver coating ✨

https://youtu.be/xW_tukDo0Os

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Picture this: it's 2am.

...stick with us.

You're sitting in the mid-night calm, with a few colleagues and a dozen computer monitors.

A couple times a minute, the data on the screens refresh as new images come in from the huge telescope with its car-sized camera above.

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

That feeling when you check a huge item off your to-do list...

Giant digital camera: ✅

Construction of Rubin Observatory's car-sized camera is officially complete at SLAC National Accelerator Lab! We're one step closer to being ready to 🌌

🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubins-lsst-camera-is-complete

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

It's time for a feature!

Join Rubin scientist Bernardita Ried for a day in her life as a PhD student at SLAC National Accelerator Lab 💁‍♀️

Bernardita grew up near observatories in Chile, so it's no surprise that she now studies the Universe 🌌

https://youtu.be/FWTSF543jik

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

It was Colonel Mustard in the ballroom with the candlestick!

In our cosmic game of "Who Dunnit," the glittering tendrils of stars around the Milky Way known as stellar streams are the clues to figure out how dark matter behaves on sub-galactic scales.

🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-reveal-stellar-streams

🧵

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

What can we say, we've got a pretty great view!

...which is probably not a surprise. Rubin Observatory's site in Chile was chosen in large part because of dark skies 🌌

As kicks off, we're looking up! Turn down your lights and celebrate the dark with us✨

Rubin Observatory beneath a starry night sky and cloudy Milky Way. The Milky Way appears as a luminous horizontal band at the top of the image, with dark dust bands interwoven throughout.
A white observatory building with shiny silver angular dome sits beneath the sweeping vertical band of stars of the Milky Way. The sky itself has a slight green hue, and red wispy tendrils are visible toward the horizon

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

It's ! Meet Nora Shipp, stellar streams extraordinaire ✨

Stellar streams are the torn-apart remnants of small galaxies or star clusters around the Milky Way—they hold clues about its history, and the dark matter that surrounds it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG_fWaNQy0Q

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

The first step to building anything is designing it!

But how did a two-in-one mirror enter the designs for Rubin Observatory in the first place? 🤔

https://youtu.be/5N6Z9t_j-Ps

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

The process of fabricating and polishing the glass structure for Rubin's two-in-one mirror took 7 years! So what went into it?

Find out in part two of the "Making of Rubin's 8.4-meter Mirror" 🤩

https://youtu.be/sGWO4J8vIoA

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

When you finally get that shiny coating you wanted.... 🤩

Rubin Observatory's 8.4-meter mirror is officially, finally, a mirror! In a 4.5-hour process, the glass got its protected silver coating—and one step closer to being able to

🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/coating-primary-mirror

VRubinObs, to random
@VRubinObs@astrodon.social avatar

Name a better spot to take a group photo, we'll wait 🤩🤳

Doesn't get much better than a freshly-coated telescope mirror!

📷: RubinObs/NSF/AURA

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • thenastyranch
  • magazineikmin
  • cubers
  • InstantRegret
  • cisconetworking
  • Youngstown
  • vwfavf
  • slotface
  • Durango
  • rosin
  • everett
  • kavyap
  • DreamBathrooms
  • provamag3
  • mdbf
  • khanakhh
  • modclub
  • tester
  • ethstaker
  • osvaldo12
  • GTA5RPClips
  • ngwrru68w68
  • Leos
  • anitta
  • tacticalgear
  • normalnudes
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •