Announcements

30 October 2023: On 18 October 2023 Chile issued a new lighting standard to protect the country’s clear, dark skies, which are valued by a large selection of the world’s astronomical infrastructure, including NSF NOIRLab. Established by the Chilean Ministry of the Environment, this new standard expands on the existing decree that was established in 2012 with the objective of preserving the astronomical quality of the night skies in the Regions of Antofagasta, Atacama, and Coquimbo. The new Norma Luminica, formally titled Supreme Decree No. 1 of 2022, is a revision of Supreme Decree No. 43 of 2012 that expands the scope of regulations on light-emitting sources to the entire country of Chile. And not only does it protect the night skies for astronomical observations, but it also incorporates the protection of biodiversity and human health as environmental objectives. The new Norma Luminica includes regulations on the brightness of industrial lighting, placing limits …

25 October 2023: More than 2,500 students and 115 teachers participated in the activities of Viaje al Universo 2023, which took place from October 16 and 20 in La Serena and Coquimbo in Chile. Viaje is one of NSF NOIRLab’s core educational programs, whose main goal is to bring astronomers, scientists, engineers and the staff of our observatories into the local classrooms. This year’s program included 37 activities implemented in 5 schools. All the activities of Viaje are aligned with the Chilean educational curriculum in order to provide a tangible contribution to the teaching and learning of science, physics and astronomy in Chile. Teachers and students were excited by all of the engaging activities, which included workshops, science talks and a portable planetarium from the Giant Magellan Telescope, and a solar telescope to experience a real time observation of the closest star, the Sun. These activities were led by NOIRLab education and engagement …

19 October 2023: Following a workshop organized by NSF’s NOIRLab at Vandenberg Space Force Base, a new report has been released describing the complex relationship between astronomical observatories, constellation satellite operators, NASA, the US Space Command and the US Air Force. With the proliferation of commercial satellites, the Office of Space Commerce at the Department of Commerce is also likely to be taking an increasingly important role. The report calls for US astronomical lasers, including those operated by NOIRLab, to be considered for reclassification at a lower risk level under the Laser Deconfliction policy that protects satellites from being ‘blinded’ by lasers. The proposal is supported by the International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS). Plans from several companies around the world will potentially grow the number of constellation satellites to several hundred thousand if all internationally notified systems [1] are brought …

18 October 2023: Together with the other Maunakea Observatories (MKOs), the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF's NOIRLab, celebrated AstroDay Kona with families and friends of all ages on Saturday 7 October 2023. A free event held outdoors at the Kona Commons Shopping Center in Kailua-Kona, AstroDay Kona provided an estimated 400 visitors with the opportunity to learn about the Universe and the spectacular discoveries made by Gemini and the other telescopes on Maunakea. Like the Annual AstroDay in Hilo each May, this event is led by the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. To share the wonders of the cosmos that inspire astronomy research, observatory staff presented the community with special science demonstrations and activities, informative exhibitions, including dozens of free images, the NOIRLab virtual tour and an infrared camera demonstration. “This event is a great opportunity for us to reach the public across Hawai‘i Island and broaden our geographical reach significantly,” …

17 October 2023: Project and Science News Rubin Construction management staff gathered for a workshop on October 4th to discuss the schedule impact of recent challenges concerning the Camera and the integration of components on the summit. A detailed announcement from Project leadership is available on community.lsst.org, and an updated version of RTN-011 – Early Science will be issued shortly. The second Rubin science release, “Rubin Observatory will Help Unravel Mysteries of Dark Matter & Dark Energy,” is now available on rubinobservatory.org. We encourage you to share this story with your networks to help us generate excitement about Rubin science. The summit team continues to stay busy and productive while the overhead dome crane, which failed in September, is being repaired. Recent activities include installing the rack-and-pinion permanent dome rotation system, fixing oil leaks and improving the pipe fittings for the TMA azimuth braking system, and completing a straightforward but time-consuming repair project …

6 October 2023: Yesterday 5 October 2023 the President of Chile Gabriel Boric visited the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) to meet with management and to reaffirm Chile's commitment to astronomy, and the protection of dark skies. The President was accompanied by Minister for the Environment Maisa Rojas and Aisén Etcheverry, Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation. While touring the inside of the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope enclosure they were briefed about the history of the AURA Observatory in Chile and the continued discoveries at CTIO done by the science community in Chile, US and beyond. The group saw Cerro Pachón in the distance, the location of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, Gemini South of the International Gemini Observatory and the SOAR Telescope, and talked about the ongoing cutting-edge research at all of our flagship facilities and the new windows that will be open by Rubin. The dignitaries were greeted by …

2 October 2023: The United States Extremely Large Telescope Program (US-ELTP) today announced it has received $15.3 million from the National Science Foundation to support further design and development of advanced optical technologies and user services. The funding consists of one-year awards of $2.3 million to NSF’s NOIRLab managed by AURA, and $6.5 million each to the organizations building the Giant Magellan Telescope and the Thirty Meter Telescope. The NSF awards come after the US-ELTP was ranked as the highest ground-based priority in the Decadal Survey on Astronomy and Astrophysics 2020, published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The survey emphasized that the US-ELTP “capabilities can be brought to bear on nearly all of the important science questions laid out by this decadal survey, across all three of our key science themes.” The US-ELTP would enable unmatched observations from ultraviolet to mid-infrared wavelengths with up to 200 times the sensitivity …

2 October 2023: Scientists, including astronomers from the International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (IAU CPS), have published a paper in Nature assessing the detailed impact of the BlueWalker 3 satellite on astronomy. Building on initial observations from shortly after its launch, these new results complement the initial understanding of this unusual satellite and the paper contains details of how the satellite’s brightness changes over time and the visibility of jettisoned hardware. With companies intending to deploy more commercial satellites in the coming years, this paper highlights the need for pre-launch impact assessments. “The interference of satellites in astronomy has become an increasingly pressing issue over the last few years,” commented first author Sangeetha Nandakumar from the Instituto de Astronomía y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama Chile. BlueWalker 3 was launched into low Earth orbit on 10 September 2022 by AST SpaceMobile …

29 September 2023: Gemini North and Gemini South telescopes (the twin telescopes forming the International Gemini Observatory) are now back on sky following the 1 August cybersecurity incident at NSF’s NOIRLab, and are currently collecting science data. Restoration of remote access for external astronomers is ongoing, and we anticipate that it will be restored over the coming weeks. The observations at Gemini South involved the instrument Flamingos-2 and those at Gemini North involved GMOS, GNIRS and NIRI. The Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope on Cerro Tololo and SOAR Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile continue to take science data in restricted operating modes. Full operations, including remote access, are expected to be restored once all cybersecurity conditions are met. Other telescopes are operational with onsite observers, and most smaller telescope facilities have been restored to normal operations. The telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory were not affected by the incident. As previously posted, …

26 September 2023: Project and Science News September has been a busy month for VIP visits to the summit. Rubin Construction and Operations leadership hosted a group from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on September 13-14 (photo here). The previous week, the Mayor of Vicuña toured the summit site along with VIP attendees of the first World Astro-tourism Summit (held September 6-9 in Vicuña). Several more groups are scheduled to visit the observatory in October. The Rubin Auxiliary Telescope (AuxTel) was recently outfitted with several new hardware components, which the AuxTel team has been testing in observing runs. One component is a mask for spectroscopy, which helps limit sky background and the impact of field stars in the spectrum, making analysis easier and more precise. Another addition is a specific device for flat-fielding for spectroscopy, and a third is a new hologram which is almost identical to the one currently in use — …

7 September 2023: Project and Science News This year’s NSF/DOE Joint Status Review (JSR) for Rubin Construction took place August 22-25 in Tucson, AZ. Rubin leadership and team leads gave presentations summarizing current and remaining work on various aspects of Rubin, and participated in detailed discussions with review committee members in subsequent breakout sessions. The official report containing the review committee’s recommendations will be delivered to Rubin leadership in the coming weeks. A photo from the review is available in the Gallery. The Survey Scheduling Team announces the release of a new OpSim output, “baseline_v3.2_10yrs.db,” which illustrates the baseline v3.2 survey strategy for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The v3.2 survey strategy is an evolution of the v3.0 survey strategy recommendations from the Survey Cadence Optimization Committee (SCOC). Learn more on community.lsst.org. Major integrations on the summit continued with the installation of the secondary mirror (M2) cell and surrogate mirror …

6 September 2023: Update as of 29 September 2023 Gemini North and Gemini South telescopes are now back on sky and are currently collecting science data. Restoration of remote access for external astronomers is ongoing, and we anticipate that it will be restored over the coming weeks. This concludes the updates of this incident. Update as of 5 September 2023 The recovery process of the affected facilities and telescopes is ongoing. As part of that process, we have now brought the Gemini.edu website back online. We have also posted updates about the NOIRLab and Gemini Calls for Proposals on the NOIRLab Science Site and Gemini.edu. Update as of 24 August 2023 NOIRLab is continuing its efforts to diligently investigate and resolve the 1 August cybersecurity incident that occurred in its computer systems. This incident resulted in the temporary shutdown of Gemini North and South telescopes and some of the smaller telescopes on Cerro …

5 September 2023: SatCons 101, a new educational curriculum for learning about the design of large satellite constellations and their impact on astronomy, has been launched by the International Astronomical Union’s (IAU) Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference (CPS), co-hosted by the NSF’s NOIRLab and the SKA Observatory (SKAO) on behalf of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). While satellite constellations unquestionably bring social benefits, such as broadband communication and Global Position Systems (GPS), they can also have negative impacts on astronomy and the environment. To educate interested parties about these issues, SatCons 101 presents eight video modules designed to teach the fundamentals of satellite constellations. Topics covered are their design, their purpose, their impact on optical/infrared and radio astronomy, and international regulations on their use of space. The curriculum is designed to be unbiased, presenting participants with data and facts that will help bring awareness …

29 August 2023: The fifth (August 2023) edition of The NOIRLab Mirror newsletter is now available. This biannual publication focuses on news for the NOIRLab community and showcases the science, technology, and developments across the five NOIRLab Programs: the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the International Gemini Observatory, Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), and Vera C. Rubin Observatory Operations. The August 2023 issue features a collection of science highlights spanning the breadth of NOIRLab facilities and Programs, a review of citizen-science research on light pollution, pathways forward for astronomy and satellite constellations, a lookback at Gemini North’s return to operations following the repair of its primary mirror, Rubin Observatory and DEI training, updates on the US Extremely Large Telescope Program, much more. The NOIRLab Mirror is free and notifications of the release of future electronic issues can be requested here. A free subscription for printed copies can …

25 August 2023: The number of publications in peer-reviewed journals is among the most important productivity metrics in astronomy, astrophysics, and all of science. NSF’s NOIRLab, which encompasses many of the world’s most powerful and productive telescopes, continues to provide exceptional service to the international astronomical community, leading to impressive representation in peer-reviewed publications. Since 2014 the observatories comprising NOIRLab have seen a steady increase in total publications, from 535 refereed publications in the 2014 calendar year [1] to 703 refereed publications in 2022. This trend positions NOIRLab in the upper echelon of world-class observatories, alongside the European Southern Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. Breaking this trend down by Program, the International Gemini Observatory recorded 262 refereed publications in 2022, comprising 170 refereed publications from the Gemini North telescope and 132 from the Gemini South telescope (some publications used both telescopes). Among these publications were highly impactful discoveries, such as Gemini North’s …

23 August 2023: Project and Science News The Rubin 2023 Operations-hosted Project and Community Workshop (PCW) brought colleagues and community together from August 7-11. More than 300 people attended the meeting in person at the University Marriott in Tucson, Arizona, and an additional 160 people registered to participate virtually in plenaries and select breakout sessions. This year’s PCW was the first to be facilitated by the Rubin Operations team after many years of annual meetings organized by Rubin Construction. Read more details about the meeting in a recent news post, and see a group photo in the Gallery. On August 10th, Rubin Observatory published the first in a series of press releases highlighting different areas of Rubin science. The overall goal for these monthly releases is to familiarize a broad, public audience with Rubin science leading up to first light and the start of science operations. Read “Visitors from Distant Stars: Rubin Observatory …

2 August 2023: An asteroid discovery algorithm — designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky — has identified its first potentially hazardous asteroid, a term for asteroids that currently pose no risk to Earth but may deserve further study. Rubin Observatory is a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab and will conduct the unprecedented, decade-long survey of the sky called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) when it begins operations in early 2025. Rubin is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Energy (DOE). NOIRLab, along with SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, will operate Rubin. The roughly 200-meter-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the NASA-funded ATLAS survey by a team at the University of Hawaii’s Institute for Astronomy. Finding this object confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, …

28 July 2023: On 20 July 2023 AURA, together with the United States Embassy in Chile, held the Bicentennial Educational Meeting in celebration of 200 years of official relations between Chile and the United States. As one of the activities, the AURA facilities in La Serena hosted their first ever educational fair, welcoming more than 230 students from the Coquimbo Region to participate in a variety of science education activities. Ruth Botts, a representative of the United States Embassy in Chile, was also in attendance and was greeted by Alejandra Voigt, the director of AURA in Chile, and Stuartt Corder, the deputy director of NOIRLab. Botts noted: "I’m happy to be at the AURA complex with the young people who represent the future of our countries. Many thanks to the AURA team for their collaboration and commitment in this meeting, as well as the Chilean-American Institute of La Serena.” She added: “When we …

25 July 2023: Project and Science News We look forward to seeing many of you very soon, at the Rubin Project and Community Workshop 2023 (PCW) in Tucson, AZ, August 7-11. Virtual registration and poster submission are both still open — you can find the most up-to-date information on the meeting website (Login Required). A winter storm hit Cerro Pachón late Tuesday, July 11th, blanketing Rubin Observatory and the surrounding area with about eight inches (20 cm) of snow (photo). The road leading to the summit was closed for just one day (Wednesday July 12th), and the safety team used the time resourcefully to conduct a winter driving safety training class for Rubin Observers and nighttime support staff. A new 4K timelapse video of the evening sky over Rubin is available in the Gallery, with footage provided by Rodolfo Canestrari, a member of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) In-kind contributing team. …

12 July 2023: Project & Science News The agenda for the Rubin Operations Project and Community Workshop 2023 (PCW) is now available on the meeting website (Login Required). The PCW is scheduled for the week of August 7, 2023, at the Marriott University Park in Tucson, AZ. The Rubin Science Advisory Committee (SAC) is soliciting nominations (including self-nominations) for new members. Nominations from international partners, including the French and UK communities, are especially encouraged. SAC membership is for a term of two years, with the possibility of renewal. More information and a link to the nomination form can be found on community.lsst.org. The SAC extends thanks to members who are finishing their terms. Rachel Bean, David Kirkby, Meg Schwamb, Stephen Smartt, Lucianne Walkowicz, and Risa Wechsler have all contributed enormously to the activities of the SAC, strengthening Rubin Observatory in many ways. The Rubin Data Management (DM) team has succeeded in enabling default …