Tag: vera rubin

Vera Rubin Observatory should be able to detect a couple of interstellar objects a month.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, formerly the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), will commence operations sometime next year. Not wanting to let a perfectly good acronym go to waste, its first campaign will be known as the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). This 10-year survey will study everything from dark matter and dark energy to the formation of the…

Hubble telescope reveals asteroid Psyche’s rusty surface

Scientists already had Psyche classified as a metallic asteroid, but new observations with the Hubble telescope reveal its rusty surface and provide scientists with a unique view into what Earth-like planets are like during their formation. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/hubble-asteroid-psyche-iron-nickel-rust-protoplanet…

Is Planet Nine a Black Hole?

“Astrophysicists have recently begun hatching plans to find out just how weird Planet Nine might be,” reports the New York Times. Long-time Slashdot reader fahrbot-bot shares their report:
Although it is probably wishful thinking, some astronomers contend that a black hole may be lurking in the outer reaches of our solar system. All summer, they have been arguing over how to find…

What is dark matter?

Dark matter doesn’t emit light. It can’t be directly observed with any of the existing tools of astronomers. Yet astrophysicists believe it and dark energy make up most of the mass of the cosmos. What dark matter is, and what it isn’t. here. Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/definition-what-is-dark-matter…

Stargazing with computers: What machine learning can teach us about the cosmos

Gazing up at the night sky in a rural area, you’ll probably see the shining moon surrounded by stars. If you’re lucky, you might spot the furthest thing visible with the naked eye—the Andromeda galaxy. It’s the nearest neighbor to our galaxy, the Milky Way. But that’s just the tiniest fraction of what’s out there. When the Department of Energy’s (DOE)…