Vera C. Rubin Observatory site in Chile.
Astronomers are awaiting the first public images from one of the biggest telescopes ever built. Operators running the University of Arizona-backed Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile will release “First Light” images next Monday morning.
Project manager Victor Krabbendam explains "First Light" is the term scientists use when a new telescope first turns its instruments skyward.
“We’re going to be able to show we are technically achieving the performance we had expected," he said. "And the images and the video projects that we show next Monday on the 23rd will show the world just what the capacity will be.”
The observatory is equipped with the largest camera ever built. Mirrors for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope were manufactured on the UA campus. It is designed with a wide field of view to enable it to survey large areas of the sky at once and create a detailed, 3-D map of the universe.
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