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1h ago

Rubin Observatory Begins Real-Time Sky Alerts With 800,000 Signals on First Public Night

Public, real-time alerts enable rapid follow-up through broker networks plus citizen science platforms.

© RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA
Image
The night sky dazzles above Rubin Observatory in this image in Cerro Pachon, Chile on June 08, 2025.
A sample of five solar systems objects that changed in brightness or position during Rubin's nightly observations. According to the NSF: "As new images are taken, Rubin Observatory’s sophisticated software automatically compares each one with a template image. The template image, built by combining Rubin’s previous images of the same area in the same filter, is subtracted from the new image, leaving only the changes."

Overview

  • The system delivers notifications roughly two minutes after each exposure by comparing new images with templates to isolate changes.
  • The Feb. 24 launch flagged moving asteroids, early supernovae, variable stars and active galactic nuclei for immediate follow-up.
  • Images flow from Chile to SLAC’s U.S. Data Facility every 40 seconds for rapid processing before alerts are distributed worldwide.
  • The University of Washington’s DiRAC Institute led development of the Alert Production Pipeline and will help operate it during the LSST program.
  • Capacity is ramping toward as many as seven million alerts per night as LSST begins later this year, with machine-learning brokers such as ALeRCE, AMPEL, ANTARES, Fink, Lasair, Pitt-Google, SNAPS, Babamul and POI Broker delivering curated streams.