The New Vera C. Rubin Observatory: Surveying the Universe

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a unique ground-based astronomy facility, with the largest digital camera in the world, designed to provide a time-lapse “movie” of the entire sky from the Earth’s southern hemisphere.  Over its planned ten years of operation, the Rubin Observatory will obtain nearly 1,000 images of every part of that sky.  By comparing the various images, we will be able to detect everything that varies in brightness and everything that moves across the sky. By adding together all of the images, we will be able to catalog nearly 20 billion galaxies and a comparable number of stars.  After 20 years of development, this facility has just come on-line and will soon begin its nightly operations.  Prof. Kahn will review the design, development, and construction of Rubin, and describe the exciting science that lies ahead.

Speaker: Steven M. Kahn is the Dean of Mathematical and Physical Sciences and a Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Berkeley.