Скупчення Діви/NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
On June 23, the first impressive space images of the new Vera Rubin Observatory.
Astronomers expect that the 8.4-meter telescope and the 3200-megapixel Legacy Survey of Space and Time camera, the world’s largest digital camera the size of a car, will revolutionize space exploration. The key tasks of the new observatory will be the search for dark energy and dark matter.
The observatory is located on Cerro Pachon Mountain at an altitude of about 1,600 meters. It scans the entire sky over the Southern Hemisphere every 3-4 days. The first image obtained shows a huge cluster of Virgo galaxies located 53.8 million light years from Earth. This image contains about 10 million galaxies. Over the next 10 years, the observatory will provide images of about 20 billion galaxies. Over the course of its operation, the observatory is expected to provide information on a total of 40 billion space objects.
The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is capable of studying objects that change brightness over time. The LSST camera can scan the sky 10-100 times faster than other large telescopes. This will allow astronomers to study more than 100 million variable stars. In addition, astronomers will be able to study millions of massive stars, that end their existence on the main sequence and explode as supernovae.
The Vera Rubin Observatory will allow astronomers to make more accurate maps of near-Earth asteroids and smaller space bodies. The first observations have already helped to identify 2104 previously unknown asteroids, including seven near-Earth asteroids. Millions of new asteroids are expected to be discovered in the first two years.
Among the published images are the Triple Nebula (Messier 20 or NGC 6514), located 9 thousand light years from Earth, and the Lagoon Nebula (Messier 8 or NGC 6523), located at a distance of 4 to 6 thousand light years from us. In these areas, new stars are forming.
The telescope uses a unique three-mirror design. Light enters the 8.3-meter main mirror, and from there it is reflected onto a 3.2-meter secondary mirror, and then — onto a 4.7-meter third mirror before reaching the 3,200-megapixel camera. The camera can capture an area of the sky approximately 40 times the size of the full moon in a single exposure.
Astronomers also hope to use the telescope at the Vera Rubin Observatory to finally find an answer to the mystery of the existence of the ninth planet in the solar system, which may be far beyond Neptune’s orbit and orbit the Sun once every 10-20 thousand years.
Source: TechSpot