Getting a glimpse of the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The Yale Center for the Invisible Universe (YCIU) hosted a livestream event to view the first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory on June 23. Formerly the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), the Rubin Observatory is located on Cerro Pachón, a mountain in central Chile. This telescope was conceived and designed decades ago to collect astronomical data of the entire southern sky. 

After multiple introductions from a variety of speakers, including lead scientists, project managers, and science directors, high-resolution photos were presented from an area that covered only a fraction of the sky, but included millions of galaxies from the Virgo cluster. In addition to galaxies, the telescope will also explore objects in the Solar System. Over the next three decades, this telescope will collect an immense amount of data for astronomers.   

The livestream event was followed by a talk and Q&A session hosted by Larry Gladney, FAS Dean of Science, Phyllis A. Wallace Dean of Diversity and Faculty Development in the FAS, and professor of physics, titled “A First Look through a New Eye on the Universe”. Professor Gladney was part of the mission planning and is on the AURA Management Council for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory.