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Astronomers generally keep their eyes on the sky, but on Monday, June 23, the community turned its attention to Washington, DC, as Scientists from the Vera C. Rubin observatory unveiled the first images of the telescope. Many have waited for more than 20 years to see Rubin in action, and his first conclusions did not disappoint.
Rubin, a joint initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Sciences Office of the Ministry of Energy (DOE), recently led its first 10 hours of testing observations. In this short period, the observatory produced dazzling images and discovered more than 2,000 asteroids previously unknown, including seven asteroids close to the earth. None of them threatens for our planet, but thanks to this wealth of new data, the observatory has already turned out to change the situation for asteroid hunters working on planetary defense. By conducting unprecedented and detailed investigations throughout the southern sky, Rubin will allow scientists to find and follow more space rocks than ever.
“While this camera system was designed, we all knew that he was going to be breathtaking in what he delivered, but that exceeded all our expectations,” said Richard Binzel, planetary science teacher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and inventor of the Torino scale – a tool to categorize potential impact events – Gizmodo.
The data on these 2,000 new asteroids went directly to the Planet Center (MPC) of the International Astronomical Union, the world -renowned organization responsible for cataloging and dissemination of data on asteroids, comets and other small celestial bodies. It plays an essential role in the early detection and surveillance of asteroids that threaten the land. The MPC has spent years preparing for the Rubin data flood, increasing its software to process massive quantities of observations. When the first round officially had floods on Monday, it was “breathtaking and exciting simultaneously,” MPC director, MPC director, told Gizmodo.
It was just a taste of what will happen. In a few months, Rubin will start the investigation inherited into space and time (LSST), a study of several decades and almost continuous of the southern sky. This will produce an ultrairs and ultra-high accelerated definition of the universe. In terms of asteroids, this means that the MPC will receive around 250 million observations per year of the LSST, according to Payne. “For us, this changes the situation in the total amount of data that we obtain, because for the moment we arrive somewhere in the region from 50 to 60 million per year,” he said.
How does Rubin do it?
Rubin’s remarkable capacities arise from his remarkable instruments. Equipped with a unique design of three mirrors telescope and The largest digital camera never builtThis observatory can carry out all-ciel investigations while always detecting very weak objects such as asteroids. This fills a key difference between existing technologies, explained Payne.
During the hunting for space, “you must go as deeply as possible,” said Peter Vres, an astrophysicist from the MPC, in Gizmodo. “This is what the LSST does, and none of the survey telescopes in the world aimed at planetary defense do it.” During this 10 -year survey, Rubin will observe the cosmos on an automated calendar using its Simonyi survey telescope of 27.6 feet (8.4 meters). Each 30 -second exhibition will cover an area about 45 times the size of the full moon. Then, the huge LSST camera will capture wide field images and assemble them together to create a complete view of the southern sky every three nights. The combination of Rubin’s enormous field of vision, short exhibition time and its ability to quickly sweep the sky will produce an avalanche of asteroid discoveries, explained Vers.
In 2005, Congress ordered NASA to build an investigation program on the object close to the earth (NEO) to detect, follow, catalog and characterize the physical characteristics of all asteroids and comets close to the earth at least 328 feet (100 meters) in diameter. If one of these objects struck our planet, this would lead to a massive destruction that would decimate from life on a continental scale, said Payne. The goal was to find 90% by 2020, but current estimates show that NASA has only found around 40%, he explained. LSST could help NASA accelerate pace. “It will just start to revolutionize our understanding of this population of things,” said Payne.
Binzel agrees. “These objects are there, whether we see them or not,” he said. “Now, we will see them, and we will be able to determine that most – if not all – will go safely through the earth in the coming decades. But the best news is that if an object already has our name, we can most likely find it, many years – if not decades – before it comes to the earth.”
In theory, this would give the Office for Coordination of the Planetary Defense of NASA (PDOC) to launch a mission to intercept the asteroid. Pdoc still develops this capacity, but in 2022, He launched the mission of the double asteroid redirection test (DART)who sent a spaceship in a 10 month trip to collide with the asteroid dimorphos. The collision managed to change the orbital path of Dimorphos, demonstrating the capacity of NASA to divert a large asteroid away from the earth if it is given enough time.
Isn’t NASA impressed?
Given Rubin’s clear potential to revolutionize planetary defense efforts – and the world’s attention it received – we could expect NASA to sing its praises. This was not the case. The agency has strangely kept the silence on the launch of the observatory – and in fact, it seems to completely ignore the first discoveries of Rubin.
“This is a Warp Drive version of asteroid research,” Keith Cowing, astrobiologist and former NASA employee who is editor of NASA Watch told Gizmodo. “You might think that people of the planetary defense would be at the forefront who encourage them, saying:” Send me the data! “”
NASA did not share any public information on the event on Monday and has not promoted the conclusions of the observatory. When Gizmodo contacted comments on Rubin’s contributions to planetary science and defense, NASA refused and recommended to contact the observatory instead.
On Tuesday, June 24, the office of the agency’s inspector general published a report on the implementation and management of the planetary defense strategy of NASA. The report only briefly mentions Rubin alongside the next NASA surveyor, a space telescope designed to find asteroids that could strike the earth. “These new observatories should find and follow much more NEO than current capacities, which will probably mean a substantial increase in the necessary monitoring observations,” said the report.
The PDCO of NASA and its planetary science program will undoubtedly use the data collected by the LSST, so what is with the cold shoulder? Cowing thinks that it is a symptom of the agency’s inner bustle. “They are nervous to NASA,” he said. “Their budgets are cut from all sides – they do not know what the final budget will be, but the White House wants to cut it – and they must react to that with everything that is at hand.”
Indeed, the budget proposal of President Donald Trump in 2026 Cut scientific funding from NASA by a huge 47%, potentially killing more than 40 missions, according to The planetary company. “The only good news is what has not been shot,” said Cowing.
He suspects that most NASA employees – including planetary defense staff – are in survival mode. “What do you do when you just don’t know if you will have a job, if the person next to you will have a job, or if you will need to compete for the same job?” Asked Cowing. “This is what is at the heart of that. It is just this discomfort and this general discomfort, and people simply do not do the work of routine, professional, collaborative and college they would do between agencies and countries. ”
While the science of NASA collapses, it is not clear if the agency will have the resources and the staff to take full advantage of the data from Rubin. Although the PDCO is currently conducting planetary defense efforts in the world, this could soon change. Binzel, however, is optimistic. “The big nations are making great science,” he said. “I continue to have the faith that our nation will continue to make great science.
