Observatory

NASA’s next great observatory, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, is finally completed

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A telescope with a triangular top wrapped in foil stands next to scaffolding, and people in clean white suits observe it under green light.

GREENBELT, Md. — On Tuesday (April 21) here at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, I saw scientists standing proudly around a metal device with towering orange solar panels and a gleaming silver pedestal. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is finally completed, shining brightly before my eyes in a sterile white clean room. Julie McEnery, … Read more

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has discovered 11,000 new asteroids, and we’re just getting started.

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A rendering of the interior of the solar system showing the asteroids discovered by Rubin in bright turquoise. Known asteroids are dark blue. Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NSF NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R/NASA/Goddard/ESA/Gaia/DPAC

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory was built with an ambitious purpose in mind. As part of the 10-year Space-Time Heritage Study (LSST), Rubin Observatory will collect approximately 30 petabytes of data. This includes cataloging the solar system, ephemeral objects (such as supernovae and variable stars), and mapping the Milky Way galaxy. Using preliminary data collected … Read more