VRubinObs

VRubinObs, 2 months ago to random

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, 1 month ago to random

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, 1 month ago to random

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, 19 days ago to random

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 #CaptureTheCosmos

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

VRubinObs, 9 months ago to random

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

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

VRubinObs, 3 months ago to random

Join Rubin's system performance team and help us complete the crucial work of ensuring the observatory functions as designed!

Role open until filled, but apply by February 15th for first-round consideration! 🔭

🔗: https://recruiting2.ultipro.com/SPA1004AURA/JobBoard/3a88e9d0-e68e-418e-9433-d36443ba8c5b/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=65ba397c-4538-4bdd-86ba-a1cca22f1a96&sourceId=32741746-b5a6-4199-ba70-e96265213a34

VRubinObs, 5 months ago to random

What if we told you that the space between galaxies in a cluster isn't empty?...😱

It's filled with stars! This ghostly glow is called intracluster light, and it's been hard to study because it's incredibly faint.

Until Rubin, that is ➡️ rubinobservatory.org/news/fossil-record-cluster-evolution

VRubinObs, 3 months ago to random

The Cosmic Mysteries Department....coming to a night sky near you* in 2025 ✨

Rubin Observatory is a new astronomical facility nearing completion in Chile. Over ten years, it will use a 3200-megapixel, car-sized digital camera to repeatedly image the sky every few nights🌌

*in Chile

Song lyrics reading "And so we scan the night sky In pursuit of data and discovery Our muses, acquired in quick succession Twice a minute, for ten years The snap, snap, snap, of the camera shutter Recording the cosmos in a blink All’s fair in astronomy and astrophysics Sincerely, The Cosmic Mysteries Department"

VRubinObs, 1 month ago to random

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 #CaptureTheCosmos🌌

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

VRubinObs, 1 year ago to random

We're #hiring two observing specialists to join our staff in Chile!

Want to help make Rubin science happen? We have openings for both early- and mid-career observers!

Early-career: ls.st/an7
Mid-career: ls.st/mco

Apply by June 16th!

VRubinObs, 5 months ago to random

We’re nearing our final form 😎

Gear up, this one’s good. The Rubin Observatory dome officially rotated using its permanent gear system for the first time!

Until now, the dome moved with a temporary system that would only roughly position the dome as needed during construction. The new gear drive is what will precisely rotate the 600-ton dome into position throughout Rubin’s ten-year survey, due to start in 2025. And it has little vibration—important for the crisp images we all can’t wait for!

For the first 5 seconds, we’re zoomed in on one of the gears of the drive system that is turning and driving the dome above. From 5-11 seconds, we see the telescope mount appearing to rotate from above, but text appears on screen that says “the telescope isn’t moving, the dome is!” From 11-17 seconds, we’re back to a zoomed-in view of one of the gears turning the dome.

VRubinObs, 6 months ago to Halloween

What's mysterious, invisible, and permeates the Universe?

That's right, dark matter! ....oh, and Halloween spirits too.

Happy #DarkMatterDay and a spooky #Halloween, a day to celebrate the stuff we can't see 🌌🎃

At ~85% of the total matter in our Universe, dark matter a big mystery for scientists to solve. Learn how Rubin Observatory will change our understanding of dark matter at http://rubinobservatory.org/explore/science-goals/dark-matter

📷: NASA/ESA

VRubinObs, 1 year ago to random

Achievement unlocked! 😎

Rubin Observatory's telescope support structure is now ready for the full-size replicas of the 8.4-meter mirror and other optical components, including the stand-in for the giant 3200-megapixel camera! 🧵

🔗: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2312/

VRubinObs, 1 month ago to random

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 #DarkSkyWeek kicks off, we're looking up! Turn down your lights and celebrate the dark with us✨ #IDSW2024

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, 5 months ago to random

It all hangs in the balance ⚖️

Despite being 200+ tons, the telescope at Rubin’s summit facility moves nimbly thanks to precise balancing. This video shows recent tests confirming the telescope's balance, which is needed to move on to other tests!

🔗: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjiFaF4FSYk&pp=ygURcnViaW4gb2JzZXJ2YXRvcnk%3D

VRubinObs, 8 months ago to random

Don't cry over (cosmic) spilled milk!

The Milky Way flows from Rubin's Auxiliary Telescope in this @NOIRLabAstro Image of the Week. AuxTel will be essential for Rubin science, taking additional data to help scientists correct for the effects of the atmosphere on incoming light.

VRubinObs, 9 months ago to random

Want a preview of Rubin science discovery?

Scientists @uwdirac developed new software to analyze future Rubin data & while testing it on an existing data set, they found their first "potentially hazardous" asteroid!

📷: J. Moeyens (@UW)/OpenSpace

🔗: https://www.washington.edu/news/2023/07/31/heliolinc3d/

VRubinObs, 9 months ago to random

Are we fisheye enough for the fisheye club?

This fisheye view of the world's largest fisheye lens might just be one of a kind! How many times can we say "fisheye"...

This lens is just one part of Rubin's car-sized digital camera being built @SLAClab

📷: T. Lange

VRubinObs, 11 months ago to random

Join our quest for knowledge! 💭

Rubin will address some of the biggest questions scientists have about the Universe - from the Solar System, to our own Milky Way galaxy, to the billions of other galaxies out there. #CatchTheUniverse🧵

VRubinObs, 11 months ago to random

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, 29 days ago to random

It's #FeatureFriday! 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, 11 months ago to random

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, 2 days ago to random

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

VRubinObs, 23 days ago to random

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? 🤔

#CaptureTheCosmos

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

VRubinObs, 22 days ago to random

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" 🤩

#CaptureTheCosmos

https://youtu.be/sGWO4J8vIoA