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The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science will support Rubin Observatory in its operations phase to carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. They will also provide support for scientific research with the data. During operations, NSF funding is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF, and DOE funding is managed by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), under contract by DOE. Rubin Observatory is operated by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC.

NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.

The DOE Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

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  1. News
  2. A "Miniature" Test Camera is Installed at Rubin Observatory

A "Miniature" Test Camera is Installed at Rubin Observatory

July 30, 2022
The Commissioning Camera has a tiny fraction of the imaging power of Rubin's 3200-megapixel camera, but it's important for making sure the real camera works as expected

The Rubin Observatory Commissioning Camera, referred to as ComCam, was installed on the telescope mount in August 2022, and it will take its first images in 2023! ComCam is a “miniature” (when compared to the 3200-megapixel LSST Camera) 144-megapixel camera that will be used to test the different systems that will eventually interact with the full 3200-megapixel LSST Camera, allowing Rubin engineers and scientists to troubleshoot issues in advance of the full LSST Camera integration. ComCam will also produce valuable scientific preview data that will help the Rubin Science Community as it prepares to do science with the much larger Rubin data set during Operations.

So if it's on the telescope mount, why isn't ComCam taking images of the sky already? That's because it's the first part of the telescope's optical system to be installed. The mirrors, which will collect light from the sky and direct it towards the camera, will go on the telescope in mid 2023. After some testing, we'll be able to take the first images of the sky with ComCam! Watch this website, and follow us on social media, to see the first images taken by Com Cam.



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