Astronomy on Tap Santa Cruz: Investigating Dark Energy with Vera C. Rubin Observatory

Most large observatories make exquisite pictures of tiny parts of the sky, but what if you had one that could visit all parts of the overhead sky every few nights and do that over and over again for 10 years? That’s how the Vera C. Rubin Observatory will enable discoveries about a wide range of topics, from small objects in our solar system to the structure of the Universe, and many topics in between. Come find out about this unique observatory, now nearing the end of construction on a mountaintop in Chile, and hear about one of the topics being pursued by UCSC scientists: what is the nature of the mysterious dark energy that is speeding up the expansion of the Universe?

Speakers: Steven Ritz and Hubert Bretonniere