All_About_Space_-_Issue_94_2020

Thereisa
colossalsize
difference
between
Earthandone
oftheSun’s
superflares

ASTRONOMY

©NASA

Did

youknow?

TheCarringtonEventof 1859 was

a hugegeomagneticstormcaused

bya coronalmassejection.

Thestormmessedwith

telecommunicationsand

causedaurorae.

What are the ma

Telescope, and h

The main goals of the Large Synoptic Surve

Telescope (LSST) are to investigate cosmolo

dark energy and dark matter, take an inven

of the Solar System – including killer astero

explore the transient  optical sky and mapt

exquisite detail our own galaxy, the MilkyW

The LSST system will have a telescopew

an 8.4-metre (28-foot) primary mirror,a ver

large  field of view with a diameter equalto

seven full Moons and a 3,200-megapixelca

the largest ever used in astronomy. Thema

ten-year survey will collect about 100 petab

• one petabyte is equal to a million gigabyt
  imaging data  by observing half the skyclos
  1,000 times. This data will be processedwi
  complex set of software pipelines, resulting
  databases including about  30 trillion observ
  of 20 billion galaxies and a similar number
  The project is in the construction phase
  will begin regular survey  operations fromit
  site in northern Chile by 2022. In additiont
  science programmes, the operations willin
  a significant education and public outreach

ain goals for the Large Synoptic Survey

ow willtheybe achieved?

ey

ogical

ntory

oids–

oan

Way.

with

ry

about

amera,

ain

bytes

es – of

se to

itha

gin

vations

ofstars.

and

ts

to

nclude

h

programme.TheconstructioncostoftheLSSTTis

beingbornebytheUnitedStatesNationalScience

Foundation,theDepartmentofEnergy,generous

contributionsfromseveralprivate

foundationsandinstitutions andthe

memberinstitutionsoftheLSST

Corporation.

ProfessorŽeljkoIvezić

worksattheUniversityof

Washingtonandis

alsoproject

scientistof

theLSST

The LSST will

be staring at

the sky for ten

years to build

a complete

survey of the

night sky

©LSST

Corporation

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