For the John Templeton Foundation, I got to learn a bit about the forthcoming Vera Rubin Observatory.
When one of the most important new ground-based telescopes in a generation begins operation as early as next year, a cohort of astrophysics and social science fellows, backed by $6.9 million in funding from the John Templeton Foundation, will be able to collaborate on some of the first discoveries made with its images. The Vera Rubin Observatory (also known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope or LSST) will make nearly-weekly full surveys of the Southern Hemisphere’s sky, as seen from its mountaintop location on Cerro Pachón, Chile. With its 8.5-meter primary mirror reflecting starlight into the largest digital camera ever made, the telescope will capture a composite image of the entire visible sky every few nights, eventually assembling the first-ever high sensitivity and resolution, multi-color, decade-long time-lapse ‘movie’ of the southern sky. The survey will help provide new insights on dark matter and dark energy, black holes, galaxies, exoplanets, as well as potentially dangerous near-earth objects.
The LSSTC Catalyst Fellows will begin work during a pivotal season for the decades-long project. The National Science Foundation funded the $473 million construction of the observatory, but as the telescope begins operations by the end of next year, the LSST Corporation (LSSTC), a consortium of 40 participating institutions, will take the lead in supporting the Observatory’s scientific work and data analysis. The majority of the postdoctoral fellows and junior professors who receive the fellowships will be placed in partnership with the LSSTC, allowing the fellows a seat at the table as astrophysicists, engineers and data scientists work to deliver on the telescope’s potential. This inside access will be coupled with the freedom to pursue fully independent research, allowing the fellows to pursue independent scientific goals, allowing them to pursue compelling research hypotheses as they emerge.