Babbage from The Economist (subscriber edition) The discovery machine: a highlight from 2025
Dec 31, 2025
Victor Crabbendam, project manager of the Vera Rubin Observatory, and Leanne Guy, physicist and associate director, delve into the groundbreaking capabilities of the observatory. They discuss the massive scale of the decade-long sky survey that aims to uncover mysteries of the universe. Highlights include the innovative 3.2 gigapixel camera and its ability to monitor transient events like supernovae and asteroids. The observatory promises to transform astronomy, shifting from data scarcity to a wealth of information, paving the way for unexpected discoveries.
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First Light Doughnuts Turned Into Triumph
- The Rubin team first captured images that were out of focus and looked like thousands of doughnuts before correcting optics.
- After iterative tuning the fourth image revealed crisp galaxies and stars, prompting emotional celebration among engineers.
A Discovery Machine For Modern Cosmology
- Rubin will take ~1,000 images per night with a 3,200-megapixel camera, producing trillions of measurements over 10 years.
- That scale will transform cosmology studies and change how astronomy is practised by making it data-rich.
Record-Breaking Camera Built At SLAC
- The LSST camera was custom-built at SLAC and holds Guinness records for the largest lens and pixel count.
- The camera has 3.2 billion pixels and uses filters rather than colour pixels to maximise photon collection.