Galaxies, nebulae and asteroids are the protagonists of the first spectacular images issued byVera C. Rubin Observatoryone of the most ambitious astronomy projects ever undertaken that takes its name from the US astrophysics that opened research to dark matter in galaxies, who disappeared in 2016 at 88 years old. The new observatory promises a new approach to astronomy, with a telescope of 8.4 meters of diameter combined with larger digital chamber never built (LSST Camera) from 3200 megapixel which together will create one map of the entire southern sky every 3-4 nights for 10 years, producing the bigger time-laps of the night sky in history.
Gabriele Rodeghiero, technologist of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF), describe the scope of these new images impeccable: “The role of astronomers is to build tools that look in the dark to discover that in reality this darkness is full of light”. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory – who – will investigate the Nature of dark matter and dark energyThe Census of the Solar System objects And it study of the population of galaxy in the cosmos. Thanks to the introduction of a New time dimension In astronomical observations, astronomers involve the discovery of more than 5 million new asteroidsof which 2000 discovered only in the first days of observation, hundreds of millions of variable stars and tens of millions of supernovae.
How it is done and where the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is located
THE’Vera C. Rubin Observatory It owes the name to the US astronoma Vera Cooper Rubinpioneer of observational cosmology and which one of the most solid experimental evidence is due about the existence of dark matter. The Observatory is located on the Cerro Pachonin Chile, a 2647 meters highone of the best sites in the world for astronomical observations. Inside the dome of the Observatory, the Simonyi telescopewhose primary mirror has a diameter of 8.4 meters.
However, the real star of the observatory is the LSST Camerathe largest digital chamber in the worldable to produce images from 3200 megapixel that cover aarea in sky as big as 45 full moons. Do you think that the images produced have such a high dimension that in order to be able to show them in full resolution, about 400 televisions in 4K. The large field of view and the resolution of the images means that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory produces every night well 20 Data Terabyte which are tried in less than 24 hours thanks also to the use of artificial intelligence. This for every observational night of the tenth anniversary of mapping of the southern sky called Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The goal is to cover the whole southern sky every 3-4 nights For a total of about 800 times during the ten -year survey.
What do the first spectacular images show
The long -awaited first images released by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory have not disappointed expectations astronomers and the many fans who followed the direct web from the United States. The images offer an essay in the potential of the new 8.4 -meter diameter Simonyi telescope and the variety of scientific investigations that will be possible to conduct with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
There first image released is a mosaic of the Region of Heaven in the southern part of the Virgin Ambassawhich represents the cluster of galaxies closest to the Milky Way, 55 million years-light years. The mosaic is the result of the combination of more than 1100 images from 30 seconds taken in just 7 nights by the most powerful digital chamber in the world, the LSST Camera. The image covers one Sky region of about 25 square degrees in which an impressive number of objects are enclosed. Let’s talk about about 10 million galaxies who represent a mere 0.05% of the 20 billion of galaxies That the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will find during its ten -year map of mapping of the southern sky. In the image they are present galaxies of all kindsfrom elliptical spirals, galaxies in interaction and distant clusters of galaxies. A website is also available where you can navigate the mosaic and get lost in the beauty of the celestial objects present in this small portion of heaven.
There second image It is an old acquaintance of astronomy enthusiasts. It is a 5000 megapixel mosaic obtained by combining 678 images taken in just 7.2 hours of observation that resume the area of the Milky Way containing the Laguna nebula and the three -way nebula. The first, in pink in the image, is one Stellar Training Area about 4000 light years away from the earth. Inside there are new generations of stars, with the most massive and warm of which they emit ultraviolet radiation that illuminates the surrounding gas. There TRIFIDA NEGULOSA (at the top right) is also one Stellar Training Regionbut further away than the nebula Laguna, to about 5000 Years-Luce from the earth. What makes it peculiar is the combination of a bright pink emission nebula, a cold blue reflection nebula and dark strips of dust that divide it into three sections, hence the name “Trifida”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtuq-vbsdje
The last two images are actually short videos that represent a taste of science that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be able to produce. In just a few nights of observation, the Simonyi telescope was able to identify About 2000 new asteroidscompletely unknown previously. These objects have been discovered by comparing images of the same portion of Heaven resumed at different times of the night: the objects that have changed position in this short period of time are objects of the sun system, such as asteroids. According to the estimates of astronomers, the Vera C. Rubin observatory, in its 10 years of main survey, will discover about 5 million asteroidsquinupying the number of asteroids currently known, about 1 million, which however were discovered over 200 years of observation!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6fxc350bs
The latest video instead shows how the survey LSST will revolutionize ours knowledge of variable objects. These are objects whose brightness varies in a more or less periodic way on times ranging from a few minutes to years or tens of years. The LSST survey will cover all the southern sky every 2/3 nights, so the same object hundreds of times will be resumed Over the course of 10 years, they can therefore reconstruct the variation in brightness over time. The video in particular shows the stars RR Lyrae A type of variable stars whose variation in brightness is due to the pulsation of the entire star, which contracts and expands periodically as if it were a cosmic breath.
What are the scientific objectives
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its ten -year survey LSST were designed to respond to Questions that grip astronomers For decades now. The most pressing concerns the Nature of dark matter and dark energyunknown components which, however, constitute 95% of the cosmos subject of matter. But it didn’t end here because the survey was designed for Add a new axis to the observation of the night skythat is to say the temporal axis. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory In fact, it will cover the southern sky 800 times creating a real Night sky film On a time of 10 years. We can therefore define the LSST survey as the First example of astro-cinematography of history. Thanks to these temporal skills, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will discover millions of new objects In the solar system and probably will end the harmful debate on the existence or not of the notorious planet nine. However, what makes astronomers try excitement is not what we know existing there, but what we don’t even imagine can exist. From a statistical point of view, in fact, the answers to the scientific questions that we ask ourselves and that we will ask ourselves are already included within the data that the Observatory will collect, the problem and the role of scientists will be to find them within the amount of available data.
