Welcome to 2025 and to a new installment of our newsletter.
And what a year it’s been so far! In October of last year, after almost two decades of research, development, and construction, we welcomed the first engineering light with the test camera at the Rubin Observatory. The first image, unveiled at the January American Astronomical Society’s meeting by Rubin Construction director and UW DiRAC Faculty Prof. Zeljko Ivezic, shows the potential of the observatory and foreshadows the next decade of discovery. We’re now working towards the first light with Rubin’s main camera, and marching towards the end of this year when Rubin will embark on its 10 year mission to map the Universe in both space and time.
Rubin Observatory Construction will be completed in about half a year: LSST will start before the end of 2025! Many major milestones were accomplished in 2024, with first on-sky images obtained with an engineering camera demonstrating that the Simony Survey Telescope (SST) is operational. In early March, the main LSST camera was attached to the telescope and we anticipate the first on-sky images, the so-called First Photon milestone, in April.
Members of the DiRAC Institute played a central role in the testing, working on-site in Chile throughout the session. Their work focused primarily on Rubin’s Active Optics System (AOS), which maintains optimal image quality across the telescope’s 9.6 deg2 field of view by analyzing wavefront sensor data in real-time, calculating necessary adjustments, and controlling the positioning actuators on the primary and secondary mirrors despite environmental challenges like temperature fluctuations and mechanical stress. Successful operation of this complex system is necessary for Rubin to achieve its lofty science goals.
Congratulations to Nora Shipp, UW Assistant Professor of Astronomy, who was a part of one of eight interdisciplinary teams awarded the Collaborative Innovation Award in the first year of Scialog: Early Science with the LSST.
On March 9th, a group of astronomers from the University of Washington’s DiRAC Institute met in downtown Seattle to share their knowledge and excitement for the future of discovery at Emerald City Comic Con (ECCC).
At DiRAC Institute, we are fortunate to have a talented group of astronomers whose work is expanding our understanding of the universe. We’re excited to share a glimpse into their work and the unique projects they’re leading, brought to you by the dedicated team of journalists from the UW News Lab.
