Large Synoptic Survey Telescope -> Vera C. Rubin Observatory

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers around the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, previously known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, and its capabilities in observational astronomy. Participants explore its technological advancements, operational timeline, and its role in complementing other astronomical missions like Gaia. The conversation includes insights into the telescope's imaging capabilities, data collection, and the significance of its naming after Vera C. Rubin.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants highlight the observatory's ability to image the entire sky every few days and its operational timeline starting in 2022.
  • Others mention the telescope's large digital camera and lens, emphasizing its capability to detect fainter sources compared to Gaia.
  • A participant notes the historical contributions of Lyman Spitzer and Nancy Grace Roman to space astronomy, linking them to the development of telescopes like Hubble and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
  • One post discusses the telescope's first images and the scale of its camera, which is 64 cm with 3,200 MP resolution.
  • Another participant shares that the telescope has discovered 2,100 new asteroids in just 10 hours of data-taking, with expectations to measure around 6 million over time.
  • There is mention of the telescope creating a digital movie of the night sky over ten years, capturing images every 20 seconds.
  • Some participants discuss the alert system for transient astronomical events, detailing how alerts are processed and prioritized for follow-up observations.
  • Clarifications are made regarding the naming conventions, with the observatory named after Vera C. Rubin, the telescope referred to as the Charles Simonyi telescope, and the survey called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, retaining the LSST acronym.
  • Participants express excitement about the vast amount of data expected from the observatory, estimating 60 petabytes over the next decade.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the significance of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its capabilities, but there are multiple competing views regarding its naming conventions and the implications of its data collection methods. The discussion remains unresolved on some technical aspects and the broader impact of the observatory's findings.

Contextual Notes

Some limitations include the dependence on definitions of terms like "fainter sources" and "transient events," as well as unresolved details regarding the telescope's operational specifics and data processing methodologies.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be of interest to astronomers, astrophysicists, and anyone involved in observational astronomy, as well as those interested in the historical context of major telescopes and their contributions to the field.

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TL;DR
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope was renamed to Vera C. Rubin Observatory
She might have been left out with the Nobel Prizes (she died in 2016), but now one of the next generation telescopes was named after her: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will image all the available sky areas every few days with observations starting this year and full operation from 2022 on. It has the largest digital camera and the largest lens ever built. It is largely complementary to the Gaia mission: It can't measure the positions of objects as precisely but it can detect fainter sources and it can cover the sky more frequently.
 
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Astronomy news on Phys.org
thanks for that, a good read, wasn't really familiar with that scope
 
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I think I heard a discussion yesterday on NPR. I believe they were talking about observational astronomy with space telescopes like Hubble, and new systems like the Spitzer Space Telescope and the Vera Rubin Observatory.

Lyman Spitzer, Jr. (1914-1997) was one of the 20th century's great scientists. A renowned astrophysicist, he made major contributions in the areas of stellar dynamics, plasma physics, thermonuclear fusion, and space astronomy. Lyman Spitzer, Jr. was the first person to propose the idea of placing a large telescope in space and was the driving force behind the development of the Hubble Space Telescope.
https://www.space.com/33909-spitzer-space-telescope.html

Another person who supported Hubble was Nancy Grace Roman, also known as the Mother of Hubble, or Mother Hubble.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_Roman
Nancy Grace Roman (May 16, 1925 – December 25, 2018) was an American astronomer and one of the first female executives at NASA. She is known to many as the "Mother of Hubble" for her role in planning the Hubble Space Telescope. Throughout her career, Roman was also an active public speaker and educator, and an advocate for women in the sciences.
 
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mfb said:
TL;DR Summary: The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope was renamed to Vera C. Rubin Observatory

She might have been left out with the Nobel Prizes (she died in 2016), but now one of the next generation telescopes was named after her: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will image all the available sky areas every few days with observations starting this year and full operation from 2022 on. It has the largest digital camera and the largest lens ever built. It is largely complementary to the Gaia mission: It can't measure the positions of objects as precisely but it can detect fainter sources and it can cover the sky more frequently.
Just to follow on and looking forward to 2025.

https://phys.org/news/2024-11-scientists-ambitious-sky-survey-insight.html

Project status timeline.

https://www.lsst.org/about/project-status
 
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In principal this telescope creates a digital movie of the night sky, running for about ten years!
The telescope take an image every 20 s.

Here is the Rubin-Skyviewer link:
https://skyviewer.app/explorer

1750697765613.webp
 
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An interesting long article in Science:
https://www.science.org/content/article/giant-all-seeing-telescope-set-revolutionize-astronomy

Within seconds of the shutter closing on each exposure, the image will travel along a newly laid fiber from the summit to NOIRLab’s facility in La Serena on the Chilean coast, and then along academic and commercial networks to the U.S. The SLAC center will generate transient alerts—on average 10,000 per image, for up to 1000 images every night—and dispatch them about 1 minute after they are observed.

From there, software developed by the astronomy community takes over. The raw alert stream doesn’t attempt to identify what the objects are. Instead, software systems known as alert brokers filter the alerts into categories, based on information in the alert and archival data, and prioritize some objects for urgent follow-up observations. Brokers “act as intelligent intermediaries between Rubin and the scientific community,” says Guillermo Cabrera-Vives, a computer scientist at the University of Concepción.

Most alerts will be for run-of-the-mill objects, such as variable stars and known asteroids in the Solar System. But some will be treasures: supernovae, flaring supermassive black holes, or interstellar comets sweeping past our Sun.

For high-priority events, other algorithms will automatically send out observing requests to robotic telescopes across the globe.
 
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mfb said:
TL;DR Summary: The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope was renamed to Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Actually the LSST acronym is still part of the project.
(1) The observatory is called the Vera C Rubin Observatory.
(2) The telescope is called the Charles Simonyi telescope - Charles Simonyi is a Microsoft billionaire who donated a large amount of money to get the project started.
(3) The ten year survey that will be carried out by the observatory is called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, thus keeping the LSST acronym.
 
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It's set to get so much great astronomical data over the next decade - 60 petabytes! 20 Terabytes every 24 hours! That's awesome (in my eyes)! Exciting to see what we'll find :-))
 

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