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Rubin Observatory at AAS 237

January 25, 2021 - This year's AAS Winter Meeting (AAS 237), originally planned for Scottsdale, AZ, was held virtually on January 10-15th, 2021. As in past years, Rubin Observatory had a prominent presence at the meeting—although without a conference center, an exhibit hall, or chance encounters over coffee, things definitely felt different. Nevertheless, members of the Rubin team made productive use of the online meeting, hosting a virtual exhibit booth, an Open House, and several breakout sessions throughout the week.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Test Camera Sees the Sky

Rubin uses practice camera to capture first on-sky data

Simonyi Survey Telescope Dedicated at NSF DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Ceremony

Simonyi family’s $20 million gift supports a new era of discovery

October 11, 2024

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory celebrated a landmark moment in astronomy and astrophysics with the dedication of the Simonyi Survey Telescope on 4 October 2024. With the Simonyi family as guests of honor, Rubin Observatory recognized the pivotal role of Charles and Lisa Simonyi’s philanthropy in advancing construction of the Observatory and supporting research that will soon transform our understanding of the Universe.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s Unparalleled Vision Will Revolutionize Multi-Messenger Astronomy

 — Vera C. Rubin Observatory will unite coordinated observations of cosmic phenomena using the four messengers of the Universe

Photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves all carry information about the Universe. Multi-messenger astronomy brings together these four signals to investigate astronomical events from multiple cosmic perspectives. With its sensitive camera and suite of filters, NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will increase the population of known multi-messenger sources by obtaining crucial color information and localizing events for follow-up observations by other telescopes.

Rubin Community Workshop 2024

Image credit: Jacqueline Ramseyer Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Rubin’s annual workshop was held at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory for the first time, with all sessions available to virtual participants too

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s Secondary Mirror Installed

The 3.5-meter glass mirror has been lifted onto Rubin Observatory’s Simonyi Survey Telescope

August 1, 2024

Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s 3.5-meter secondary mirror has been installed on the Simonyi Survey Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. The glass mirror — made by Corning Advanced Optics and polished by L3Harris Technologies — is the first permanent component of the telescope’s state-of-the-art, wide-field optical system to be installed and will soon contribute to a better understanding of our Universe.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Will Detect Thousands of Elusive Brown Dwarfs, Unlocking Milky Way Mysteries

Vera C. Rubin Observatory will capture the faint light of distant brown dwarfs to help scientists understand the Milky Way’s formation and evolution

Vera C. Rubin Observatory will capture the faint light of distant brown dwarfs to help scientists understand the Milky Way’s formation and evolution

Too big to be planets but too small to be stars, distant brown dwarfs are a key ingredient for understanding the history of the Milky Way. Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time will detect a population of ancient brown dwarfs about 20 times bigger than we’ve previously seen, revealing the processes that shaped our home galaxy.

LSST Camera Arrives at Rubin Observatory in Chile, Paving the Way for Cosmic Exploration

The LSST Camera is lifted out of its shipping crate on the third level of Rubin Observatory. The 3200-megapixel LSST Camera is the largest digital camera in the world, and it will soon be installed on the Simonyi Survey Telescope at Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. When Rubin begins the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) in late 2025, the LSST Camera will take detailed images of the southern hemisphere sky for 10 years, building the most comprehensive timelapse view of our Universe we’ve ever seen...

The 3200-megapixel LSST Camera, the groundbreaking instrument at the core of the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, has arrived at the observatory site on Cerro Pachón in Chile. The LSST Camera is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science (DOE/SC), and the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the DOE/SC.

Rubin Observatory Achieves Another Major Milestone: Reflective Coating of the 8.4-Meter Primary/Tertiary Mirror

Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a next-generation astronomical facility under construction in Chile funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), achieved an important milestone on April 27, 2024, with the successful coating of the 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror with protected silver.

Rubin Observatory will Reveal Dark Matter’s Ghostly Disruptions of Stellar Streams

An artist’s impression of streams of stars around a galaxy. The galaxy occupies most of the image as a fuzzy blue-white oval with spiral features extending out clockwise. The light clouds are interspersed with small dark brown splotches in the same spiral pattern around the center, representing dust clouds. The galaxy’s center is a bright yellow glow. Overlaid on top of and surrounding the galaxy are several criss-crossing, faint tendrils of stars that represent satellite dwarf galaxies and star clusters th

Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s stunningly detailed images will illuminate distant stellar streams and their past encounters with dark matter

Glittering threads of stars around the Milky Way may hold answers to one of our biggest questions about the Universe: what is dark matter? With images taken through six different color filters mounted to the largest camera ever built for astronomy and astrophysics, Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time will reveal never-before-seen stellar streams around the Milky Way — and the telltale effects of their interactions with dark matter.

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Financial support for Rubin Observatory comes from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through Cooperative Support Agreement No. 1202910, the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515, and private funding raised by the LSST Corporation. The NSF-funded Rubin Observatory Project Office for construction was established as an operating center under management of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA).  The DOE-funded effort to build the the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera (LSSTCam) is managed by the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC).
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.
NSF and DOE will continue to support Rubin Observatory in its Operations phase. They will also provide support for scientific research with LSST data.   




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