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Rubin Observatory

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Rubin Observatory Uncovers Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in Early Images, 10 Days Before Official Detection
science10 days ago

Rubin Observatory Uncovers Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS in Early Images, 10 Days Before Official Detection

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory captured images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during its science-validation phase—ten days before its official discovery—showing an active coma and implying Rubin could detect more interstellar visitors as its Legacy Survey progresses; coordinated observations with JUICE and Europa Clipper identified hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon in the coma, enabling comparisons with Solar System comets; the object is estimated to be 7–12 billion years old with a ~1 km nucleus traveling about 140,000 mph, and findings published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters help illuminate where such bodies form and how to spot them.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#3iatlas#astronomy#interstellarobject
Rubin data uncovers pre-discovery images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS
space11 days ago

Rubin data uncovers pre-discovery images of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS

Astronomers found images of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in Vera Rubin Observatory commissioning data from June 20, 2025, ten days before its official discovery by ATLAS on July 1, 2025. Rubin captured nine additional images between June 21 and July 2, with a clear coma, but a non-operational data pipeline during validation required a custom pipeline to extract the signals. The discovery hints Rubin LSST could detect about one interstellar comet per year. Joint observations by JUICE and Europa Clipper later detected hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon from 3I/ATLAS, with JWST data suggesting excess carbon dioxide; these findings help compare the comet’s origin to solar-system bodies. The nucleus is ~1 km wide and traveling ~140,000 mph, implying an age of several billion years and multiple stellar encounters. The study was published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

via Space|
#3iatlas#astrophysical-journal-letters#commissioning-data
Rubin Observatory Poised to Rewrite the Sky with Giant Asteroids, Interstellar Visitors, and Exploding Stars
science12 days ago

Rubin Observatory Poised to Rewrite the Sky with Giant Asteroids, Interstellar Visitors, and Exploding Stars

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile launches a decade-long all-sky survey that will produce the largest time-lapse of the night sky, generating millions of alerts each night as it uncovers giant asteroids (including ultra-fast rotators), tracks countless supernovas to help probe dark energy and the Hubble tension, and hunts for interstellar visitors, all while creating a vast data flood that scientists will need to manage and interpret.

via Quanta Magazine|
#asteroids#big-data-astronomy#interstellar-objects
AI sharpens sky surveys: Webb-speed data science now fuels Rubin Observatory insights
space1 month ago

AI sharpens sky surveys: Webb-speed data science now fuels Rubin Observatory insights

AI from UC Santa Cruz has dramatically sped up James Webb data analysis and is now being applied to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The Neo model, a conditional GAN trained on Subaru and Hubble images, removes atmospheric blur and recovers fine details, boosting galaxy morphology measurements by about 2–10× and turning Webb-scale processing into days rather than years. When used on Rubin data, the technology aims to sharpen ground-based images so they rival space-based quality, helping maximize the science return from Rubin’s Chilean sky survey without replacing astronomers. The work is GPU-accelerated (NVIDIA) and underscores AI’s potential to accelerate discoveries across major observatories.

via Space|
#ai#astronomy#image-processing
Rubin Observatory Unveils 11,000 Asteroids in Early Look, Heralding a Solar-System Census
science1 month ago

Rubin Observatory Unveils 11,000 Asteroids in Early Look, Heralding a Solar-System Census

In an early data release from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, scientists identified 11,097 new asteroids (along with 33 near-Earth objects and about 380 trans-Neptunian objects), with results confirmed by the MPC. The findings demonstrate Rubin's unprecedented survey power and foreshadow a dramatic expansion of the Solar System inventory during the ten-year LSST era, with data openly available for ongoing research.

via Universe Today|
#asteroids#lsst#near-earth-objects
Rubin Observatory's cosmic census faces a satellite-streak crisis
space-exploration2 months ago

Rubin Observatory's cosmic census faces a satellite-streak crisis

Space.com reports that the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, with its massive camera and LSST survey, could transform astronomy, but the rapid growth of satellite megaconstellations (led by Starlink) threatens to create bright streaks that contaminate data and complicate moving-object detections, potentially affecting a sizable share of exposures. Scientists are pushing for collaboration with operators to dim satellites, share streak maps, and develop analysis methods to separate satellites from real signals, underscoring the urgency as mega-constellations expand.

via Space|
#astronomical-interference#lsst#rubin-observatory
Rubin Observatory logs 800k sky changes in a single night
space3 months ago

Rubin Observatory logs 800k sky changes in a single night

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s new alert system detected about 800,000 changes in the night sky in one night, underscoring the massive data flow of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which is expected to generate up to 7 million alerts per night and around 10 terabytes of data nightly as it sweeps the southern sky; these alerts will enable rapid follow-up for events like supernovae, asteroids, and interstellar objects and are publicly accessible through the ANTARES broker.

via Live Science|
#alerts#astronomy#lsst
Cosmic census begins: Rubin Observatory to map 20 billion galaxies over a decade
science3 months ago

Cosmic census begins: Rubin Observatory to map 20 billion galaxies over a decade

Over the next decade, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will image the southern sky in unprecedented detail, cataloging about 6 million asteroids, 17 billion stars, and 20 billion galaxies. With roughly 10 terabytes of data per night, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time aims to uncover the nature of dark matter and dark energy, while a network of community brokers processes detections in near real time and the public can participate as citizen scientists via online tools and data releases.

via The Conversation|
#astronomy#dark-energy#lsst
Old Glass, New Skies: Mapping a Century of Cosmic Change
astronomy3 months ago

Old Glass, New Skies: Mapping a Century of Cosmic Change

The article explains how astronomy blends modern time-domain surveys with century-old glass plates to trace cosmic changes over long timescales. By digitizing archives like Harvard’s DASCH and comparing them with new data from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, researchers build a century-long view of variability—from supernovae and active galactic nuclei to variable stars—creating a “movie” of the sky while tackling challenges in data calibration and plate preservation.

via Quanta Magazine|
#astronomy#photographic-plates#rubin-observatory
Scientists Detect Interstellar Object with Potentially Hostile Alien Tech Approaching Earth
science10 months ago

Scientists Detect Interstellar Object with Potentially Hostile Alien Tech Approaching Earth

A newly discovered interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS, was first observed by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory during its commissioning phase, making it the earliest high-precision image of such an object. The comet, which is over 2 billion years old and faster than previous interstellar visitors, was confirmed by multiple telescopes and is notable for its hyperbolic velocity and ancient origin. Rubin's observations are crucial for studying this rare cosmic visitor before it moves out of view in August.

via Gizmodo|
#3iatlas#astronomy#comet