WWW.ASTRONOMY.COM 25
C
hanging your name is not a
decision to be taken lightly.
So when two of the most
powerful and revolutionary
upcoming astronomical
observatories were renamed,
people took notice.
Say goodbye to the Large Synoptic
Survey Telescope and the Wide Field
Infrared Survey Telescope, and say hello
to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and
the Nancy Grace Roman Space
Telescope. Recently rechristened from
acronyms — LSST and WFIRST,
respectively — to human names, these
observatories are expected to become
two of the decade’s most powerful
survey tools. Together they will probe
dark matter, dark energy, exoplanets,
asteroids, f leeting celestial phenomena,
and the evolution of our universe.
But their renaming ref lects another
revolution in science that is long overdue.
Scientists are finally paying tribute to
female pioneers of astronomy by
naming important observato-
ries after them.This iconic photo shows Vera C. Rubin at work in
the Carnegie Institution for Science’s Department
of Terrestrial Magnetism. AIP EMILIO SEGRÈ VISUAL ARCHIVES,
RUBIN COLLECTION
Seen here at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
in the early 1970s, Nancy Grace Roman was an
instrumental figure in astronomical research, as well
as the development and launch of numerous space
telescopes. NASA
ABOVE: The Nancy
Grace Roman Space
Telescope (shown in
this artist’s concept)
is similar in size to
the Hubble Space
Telescope. It will
orbit the Sun
alongside Earth
from one of five
gravitationally stable
points in the
Earth-Sun system.
NASABELOW: A Full Moon
lights the darkening
sky over the Vera C.
Rubin Observatory
on May 5, 2020.
RUBIN OBSERVATORY/NSF/AURA