The
Vera C Rubin Observatory, named after astronomer Vera Rubin, is a powerful new observatory in Chile designed to create a "time-lapse record of the universe" over a 10-year period. It features an 8.4-meter telescope and the largest digital camera ever built, producing an enormous amount of data nightly to
study the nature of dark matter and dark energy, map the Solar System, monitor variable stars and supernovae, and reconstruct the history of the Milky Way.
I need to correct my 1st post. There are thought to be perhaps 200B galaxies in the Universe; Rubin will consider about 20B.
The telescope and camera were built here at Stanford Linear Accelerator and flown to Chile for installation.
The huge telescope rotates to take about a thousand images every night, depending on clouds, etc.
Rubin captures the entire visible Southern Hemisphere sky every three to four nights to create a comprehensive time-lapse record of the universe. These images capture changes in celestial objects,
allowing for the discovery of new asteroids, comets, variable stars, supernovae, and other cosmic phenomena.
In 60 seconds each image will be sent to the database, catalogued, perhaps cleaned and analyzed. Millions of notifications will be sent out nightly.
Rubin is being called a Discovery Machine. This rapid and repetitive imaging will lead to the discovery of millions of new objects and the observation of the universe's evolving nature.
