Wisconsin

Wisconsin science, industry play critical roles in creating powerful new Rubin Observatory

Published

3 weeks ago

June 24, 2025

Wisconsin science, industry play critical roles in creating powerful new Rubin Observatory

The NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory is a groundbreaking achievement for astronomers. Scientists and companies in Wisconsin made the endeavor possible.

Light from faraway galaxies can show us what the universe was like billions of years ago. But the movements and mysteries of those galaxies tell physicists that we still don’t know what makes up the vast majority of the universe.

“How did it begin? When will it end? What is it made of?”

Keith Bechtol, a physics professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said these are some of the questions scientists will try to address with a new observatory in Chile featuring the biggest camera ever built.

The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, released the first set of images on June 23. The stunning images represent the fruits of a decades-long effort to push the study of the cosmos well past its current limits.

Building the Rubin Observatory, which sits on a summit in Chile’s Andes Mountain range, spanned three decades and involved parts and people from three continents. Some of the most important support came from Wisconsin.

‘Visionary’ Rubin Observatory provides detailed look at the cosmos

Beginning in October 2025, the Rubin Observatory will embark on the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Over the next 10 years it will scan the entire Southern Hemisphere sky about 800 times, providing the most detailed look at the universe to date.

The plan going forward sounds deceptively simple.

Getting to the starting point was anything but that.

“The whole idea for the (Rubin) observatory was so visionary when it was conceived (in the 1990s) that many of the technologies didn’t exist at that time” said Bechtol.

Bechtol served as the System Verification and Validation Scientist for the international team in charge of the Rubin. He oversaw much of the testing that ensures scientists will reliably get the high-quality data they are seeking.

Observatories usually face trade-offs between how big an area they scan, the resolution of the photos they take and how fast they can take them. The scientists designing the Rubin attacked these challenges on all three fronts.

The Simonyi Survey Telescope installed uses an innovative mirror system to reflect incoming light onto a camera the size of a car. After scanning one piece of the sky, the whole system rapidly spins to look in a different direction, rotating in coordination with its protective dome while maintaining near perfect alignment of the mirrors.

According to Bechtol, displaying one image at full resolution would require enough high-definition TVs to cover a basketball court.

The final step in building the Rubin — installing the 80-ton mirror system — was made possible by the Milwaukee-based company PFlow Industries.

Pieces of the telescope were assembled at a staging area but needed to be raised five stories to be installed in the dome. PFlow custom-built a lift capable of moving critical equipment from the assembly area to the dome. A video shared by Rubin Observatory shows this lift in action.

During and after construction, Bechtol organized a series of “rehearsals” to simulate how the Rubin will operate. He accounted for details including the workflow of operating it, the challenge of transferring massive amounts of data from the summit, and even making sure the summit hotel was staffed and had food for its residents.

After nearly 30 years of dreaming, designing, building and testing, the first images from Rubin Observatory arrived.

Scientists share new images with the public

UW-Madison hosted a First Look Party on June 23 to view these images with the public. Nearly 100 people gathered in a physics department auditorium to watch a livestream of a press conference in Washington, D.C., before participating in a panel discussion with Bechtol and other scientists who will use data from the Rubin.

Even though Monday was the first chance for the public to see the images, some of the scientists involved in the project had a sneak peek.

“I woke up in bed and saw messages” that the first images had come in, said Miranda Gorsuch, a graduate student at UW-Madison who has Bechtol as an advisor. “It was like waking up from a dream.”

Gorsuch plans to use the data to study the structure of the universe and how it evolves over time.

Rubin Observatory is named after Vera C. Rubin, an astronomer who first provided observations suggesting we might not be able to see most of the matter making up the universe. Understanding the properties of this “dark matter” is one of the top priorities for scientists who will use the collected data.

But there is so much more to learn; the Rubin is already showing outer space in incredible detail. Just one small slice of our solar system imaged by Rubin Observatory already led to the discovery of 2,000 new asteroids. In one image of the full field of view, scientists detected 10 million galaxies — many for the first time. By repeatedly scanning the sky, scientists hope to use the Rubin as an alert system for rare events, like supernovae, which they can then observe in more focused follow-up studies.

“This is when science works best – when you have this interplay” between new discoveries and the new questions they raise, Bechtol said.

“There’s a science case (for building the Rubin), but any time you do this, there is also a set of questions you haven’t thought to ask yet” said Eric Wilcots, dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison.

While UW-Madison was just one of many universities involved in the international project, Wilcots believes its participation will inspire future scientists and attract them to Wisconsin.

Both Bechtol and Wilcots stressed the importance of sustained financial support from the NSF and DOE to bring the project to fruition.

Rob Morgan was one of the first graduate students advised by Bechtol, working on a Dark Energy Survey that served as a precursor to Rubin Observatory. According to Morgan, the Rubin is the culmination of the astronomy field’s shift towards a “big data” approach. Now, Morgan applies the skills he learned as an astrophysicist to his work at Google’s office in Madison.

“Google is where ‘big data’ is done for the rest of the world,” said Morgan.

This week’s image release represented a beginning. Scientists will spend years collecting and analyzing data. Still, the opening provided a moment worth cherishing.

“We don’t get a lot of observatory openings,” said Alyssa Jankowski, who recently completed an undergraduate degree at UW-Madison. “It’s important to celebrate.”

Source link

Click to comment

Wisconsin

Wisconsin football top class of 2026 safety target commits to Notre Dame

Published

16 hours ago

July 12, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin football top class of 2026 safety target commits to Notre Dame

Wisconsin top class of 2026 safety target Nick Reddish committed to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Friday.

Reddish, who recently whittled his list of finalists down to four, elected to join Marcus Freeman’s program over opportunities with the Badgers, Indiana Hoosiers and Virginia Tech Hokies. He becomes the second high-profile 2026 safety target to commit elsewhere in the past few days, following three-star Jowell Combay.

The rising senior joins a Notre Dame class of 2026 that currently ranks No. 4 in the nation with 26 commitments, including 15 four or five-star recruits.

The rising senior received his offer from UW on May 14 before officially visiting Madison the weekend of May 30. He then made a trip to Virginia Tech the weekend of June 6 before a visit with Notre Dame the weekend of June 12.

247Sports considers the Independence High School product the No. 681 overall recruit, No. 57 safety and No. 31 player from his home state of North Carolina.

Reddish’s chance of landing with Notre Dame did not shock those invested in his recruiting journey. Several recruiting outlets projected the Charlotte, North Carolina, native to join the Fighting Irish, including On3’s recruiting machine.

As of July 11, Wisconsin’s class of 2026 ranks No. 49 in the nation and No. 15 in the Big Ten with 15 players committed. Four-star wide receiver Jayden Petit and four-star running back Amari Latimer impacted the program’s national standing in late June. Still, UW’s failure to secure additional commitments has left it in need of some new talent.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion

Source link

Wisconsin

Ranking Michigan football’s 2025 schedule from 12 to 1: No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers

Published

2 days ago

July 11, 2025

Press Room

Ranking Michigan football’s 2025 schedule from 12 to 1: No. 8 Wisconsin Badgers

Source link

Wisconsin

Wisconsin State Patrol bureau director and wife die in town of Middleton double homicide

Published

2 days ago

July 10, 2025

Press Room

Wisconsin State Patrol bureau director and wife die in town of Middleton double homicide

A Wisconsin State Patrol director and his wife were killed by their son at their Middleton home, and the suspect later died by suicide during a standoff with police, according to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.

David Pabst, 64, who led the Wisconsin State Patrol Bureau of Transportation Safety, and his wife Teresa Pabst, 64, a special education teacher, were found dead Tuesday afternoon at their home in the town of Middleton. Law enforcement had been called to the house for a wellness check.

The Dane County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the couple Thursday. Autopsies were completed and the cause and manner of death for the couple is pending, according to the medical examiner.

Stay connected to Wisconsin news — your way

Get trustworthy reporting and unique local stories from WPR delivered directly to your inbox.

The suspect was confirmed in a Facebook post from the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office to be James Pabst, the couple’s son.

The Wisconsin State Journal reported that a woman who identified herself as James Pabst’s girlfriend told the paper that James had become agitated early Monday when they were together, telling her “You realize everyone needs to die, right?” The paper reported that the woman said James contacted her about an hour later and told her he had killed his parents. She contacted police.

According to the Dane County Sheriff’s Office, James Pabst was seen leaving Middleton on Tuesday. Later that day he was spotted by Wisconsin State Patrol on U.S. Highway 14 in Vernon County.

Vernon County is about 85 miles from Middleton.

State Patrol and the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office made a traffic stop, but James Pabst refused to comply with verbal demands, according to Dane County officials.

“A standoff followed, ultimately ending when the suspect took his own life,” the Dane County Sheriff’s Office said. “The Vernon County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this portion of the call.”

In a statement, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation and Wisconsin State Patrol said they are heartbroken over the loss of their longtime colleague, David Pabst, and his wife.

David Pabst. Photo courtesy the Wisconsin Department of Transportation

David Pabst spent 38 years working in public service and transportation. For 25 years, he was a law enforcement officer rising through the ranks from trooper and inspector in the State Patrol Northwest Region to sergeant, lieutenant, and captain at State Patrol headquarters in Madison, according to the statement.

In 2013, he was appointed director of the Bureau of Transportation Safety and Technical Services.

“David always served with integrity and compassion, driven by a deep commitment to protect others,” the statement says. “He always had a smile and a kind word to share as he dedicated a nearly 40-year career to keeping Wisconsinites safe. His contributions spanned the agency and communities across the state.”

Source link