The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the Chilean Andes brings the cosmos to life like never before. During the first 10 years of operation, Rubin Observatory will conduct the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), creating the widest, fastest, and deepest views of the night sky ever observed. It will provide a treasure trove of data, hosted at the U.S. Data Facility at SLAC, that will be available to the scientific community to collectively make discoveries and resolve cosmic mysteries. The Dark Energy Science Collaboration (DESC), also hosted at SLAC with members worldwide, will make high-accuracy measurements of fundamental cosmological parameters using data from the LSST.
Rubin Observatory news
The observatory has issued its first scientific alerts, marking a historic milestone in astrophysics.
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Rubin Observatory explained
What will Rubin Observatory look for?
Only about 5 percent of the universe is made of ordinary matter, while the remaining 95 percent consists of dark matter and dark energy, mysterious components that shape the cosmos but remain largely unknown. To investigate these and other cosmic questions, the LSST Camera will ceaselessly scan the sky nightly for 10 years, allowing scientists to observe changes in the universe in real time.
LSST Camera: A moving picture of the cosmos
Learn more about the LSST Camera for the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile and its quest to map the universe developing a 10-year movie of the night sky. The U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory led the construction of the LSST Camera, the largest digital camera ever built and the heart of the Rubin Observatory.
Over the full 10-year survey, Rubin Observatory will produce half an exabyte of data. To make use of this data, teams of scientists and engineers have been developing algorithms that will detect and measure every single astronomical object. The data is hosted at the U.S. Data Facility at SLAC available to the scientific community to collectively make discoveries and resolve cosmic mysteries.
Data are scientists’ raw material, their starting point, their playground. Here, data begin with images of the sky, of distant galaxies, of stars in motion. From each image, scientists extract a trove of information such as brightness, position, velocity, and color.
Dark matter
Gravitational lensing is our best tool for finding dark matter, which makes up about 27 percent of the universe. LSST will benefit from Rubin Observatory's power and large field of view, which will enable us to see weaker lenses, which are more common.
Dark energy
Dark energy makes up two-thirds of the universe and drives its expansion. With LSST data, scientists will be able to map out in extraordinary detail how the universe has expanded over time, yielding new insight into the nature of dark energy.
Meet the SLAC researchers
SLAC people have a role in Rubin observatory operations, the LSST Survey, U.S. Data Facility management and the Dark Energy Science Collaboration.
The SLAC-built LSST Camera: From construction to installation
For two decades, scientists and engineers collaborated on the construction of the SLAC-built LSST camera. This behind-the-scenes photo album tells the full story, from an empty cleanroom to the completion of the camera's construction, shipment to Chile and installation at the Rubin Observatory.
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Funding & collaboration
NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a joint initiative of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE/SC). Its primary mission is to carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, providing an unprecedented data set for scientific research supported by both agencies. Rubin is operated jointly by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. NSF NOIRLab is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the DOE.
