By Emily Levesque, University of Washington
Our astronomical knowledge has grown by leaps and bounds with the efforts of those who have dedicated their careers to understanding the cosmos better. These heroes are the scientists, engineers, and support staff who make these discoveries possible, along with those who advocate for the continued construction and support of the powerful new observatories.
Vara C. Rubin Observatory
An exciting new telescope currently under construction in Chile will soon be revolutionizing the way we study the changing sky: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory named after the brilliant observer and astronomical hero who discovered dark matter.
The latest successor in a long string of optical sky surveys, this 8.4 meter, or 27.5-foot diameter, telescope will have a single but spectacular mission—it will photograph an enormous swath of the southern sky, once every few days, over and over again, for 10 years. The Rubin Observatory’s cutting-edge camera will generate images that are each 3.2 gigapixels in size.
What Will the Rubin Observatory Do?
The Rubin Observatory will generate 20 terabytes of data in a single night, so from its remote location atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, it needs a way to transmit this data to servers so that astronomers around the world can see whatever new discoveries the telescope has spotted on any given night.
The fiber network connecting the Rubin Observatory to its base facility in La Serena is capable of transmitting 600 gigabits of data per second. Getting these new data to astronomers is crucial because the sheer volume of information coming out of the Rubin Observatory will be incredible.
Thanks to studying the sky over and over, it’s expected to detect over 1,000 supernovae every single night—right now barely 1,000 supernovae are detected in a year. The telescope will also build up an enormous library of data on variable stars, tracking every star in the sky whose brightness changes over the 10-year duration of the survey.
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Crucial data from Rubin Observatory
With these data, we should be able to pinpoint the final phases of some stars’ lives and have a better understanding of the physics that dictates the explosive deaths of massive stars, and the formation of exotic compact objects like neutron stars and black holes.
The data from the Rubin Observatory will also be an invaluable resource for spotting new asteroids and other small moving objects in our own solar system, including near-Earth objects.
The LIGO
The Rubin Observatory will offer a wealth of new data on the changes happening in the optical night sky, but there are other future facilities that will be monitoring our dynamic universe in a very different way as The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, or LIGO, does.
These are enormous laboratories built to detect the tiny spacetime waves predicted by general relativity. LIGO observatories are mind-blowingly sensitive, detecting compressions in the fabric of spacetime that is 1,000 times smaller than the width of the proton.
Limitations of the LIGO
At the same time, they face some basic limitations. They grapple with many different sources of interference, everything from trucks driving on a nearby highway to rain falling on the observatory ground must be nullified so these observatories can detect tiny gravitational signals.
Gravitational wave observatories may work very differently than traditional telescopes, but the solution to annoying terrestrial problems is still the same: Why not try putting them in space?
The European Space Agency is currently trying to do exactly that. They have plans for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna or LISA.
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA)
LISA has a space-based array of three gravitational-wave detectors that will be launched and arranged in a perfect triangle orbiting the Sun along the same path as Earth. By eliminating the noise created by our own planet, the LISA detectors will be capable of detecting an entirely new subset of gravitational waves.
Right now, our most sensitive Earth-based detectors are able to detect the collisions of enormous black holes, tens of times the mass of our own Sun, as faint fleeting chirps.
LISA, on the other hand, will be capable of detecting gravitational waves generated by binary orbits; in other words, it’ll be able to pick up persistent signals from in-spiraling black holes, neutron stars, or even normal stars, before they even collide!
Important findings from LISA
LISA should even be able to predict the time when a future collision will occur, ushering in a new era of gravitational wave astronomy. If we know these events are coming, then we can prepare other ground and space-based observatories in advance, training our resources on the exact spot in the sky at exactly the right time to capture the gravitational waves and electromagnetic signatures of these events.
LISA is a sizeable engineering undertaking, and teams at the European Space Agency are working with today’s large groups of gravitational wave scientists on the ground to prepare this amazing new observatory. It’s expected to launch by the mid-2030s, and when it does it will offer a phenomenal new view of gravity and the incredible physics of our universe.
Common Questions about New Observatories Set to Revolutionize Astronomical Studies
The Rubin Observatory is expected to detect over 1,000 supernovae every single night—right now barely 1,000 supernovae are detected in a year. The telescope will also build up an enormous library of data on variable stars, tracking every star in the sky whose brightness changes over the 10-year duration of the survey.
LISA is the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, built by the European Space Agency. It has a space-based array of three gravitational-wave detectors that will be launched and arranged in a perfect triangle orbiting the Sun along the same path as Earth. By eliminating the noise created by our own planet, the LISA detectors will be capable of detecting an entirely new subset of gravitational waves.
LIGO grapples with many different sources of interference, everything from trucks driving on a nearby highway to rain falling on the observatory ground must be nullified so these observatories can detect tiny gravitational signals.
