Abstract:  Fueled by advances in software, computation, microelectronics, and large optics fabrication, a new type of sky survey will begin in 2023. With 2000 deep 10 square degree images per night, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will cover the southern sky to 25th mag every week for ten years, opening a movie-like window on objects that change or move on rapid timescales. Alerts will be issues within 60 seconds of detection. This opens a new discovery space: faint transients. The deep images from LSST will chart billions of remote galaxies, providing multiple interlocking probes of the mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy. In a high dimensional database, hundreds of petabytes will be mined and compared with Exascale simulations. Scientists worldwide will access these data, leading to unexpected discoveries.

Host:  Eric Feigelson

Astro Colloquium and 'coffee & cookies' Department gathering (3:45-4:00pm)
https://psu.zoom.us/j/94153970341