by Tanja Schumann (TU Berlin) & Yiannis Tsapras (Universität Heidelberg), May 2024
In northern Chile, on the 2682 metre-high El Peñón summit of Cerro Pachón, a very special telescope will be put into operation in March 2025:
With an 8.4 metre mirror and the largest camera ever built for astronomy and astrophysics, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will capture the cosmos in exquisite detail and help to answer some of our biggest questions about the universe.
This image shows Vera C. Rubin Observatory, currently under construction atop Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes. (Rubin Observatory/NSF/AURA/O. Rivera)
Its mirror can move to a different position every 5 seconds so that it can image the entire visible sky in just 3 nights! This makes it possible to find and study objects of varying brightness such as supernovae or asteroids.
In addition, it is estimated that this powerful telescope will discover more than 17 billion stars and 20 billion galaxies that have never been seen before, expanding our knowledge in an incredible way!
But also in the discovery of extrasolar planets, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be a great help: In synergy with the Roman Nancy Grace Space Telescope, it will find and explore new worlds beyond our solar system, providing the most comprehensive look yet at the formation, evolution and physical properties of planetary systems.
From NASA (WFIRST Project and Dominic Benford)
Named after NASA’s first female chief astronomer, the ‘mother of the Hubble Space Telescope’, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will be able to block starlight to see exoplanets and planet-forming discs directly.
The gravitational microlensing method will also be used to detect exoplanets. This involves analysing events in which the gravity of one object magnifies the light of another. With the outstanding technology of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in collaboration with the Roman Space Mission, it will be possible to observe microlensing events across the entire galaxy. In addition, this advance will allow a better understanding of the structure of the Milky Way and how the masses of stars and black holes vary throughout the galaxy.