Rider joins universe-mapping mission

By Cal Sutton and Brannagh Rattigan

John Bochanski, associate professor of computer science and physics, has embarked on a journey through Rider alongside colleagues at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, to map the universe using the largest digital camera ever built.

The Rubin Observatory is named after Vera C. Rubin, a scientist who displayed the first tangible evidence that dark matter existed. Rubin made discoveries about space and how the universe should be flying apart — and if not for dark matter, it would have already.

Bochanski has been involved with the Rubin Observatory since 2008. He has been part of a science collaboration with fellow astronomers to answer big questions about the universe. Bochanski and his peers wrote papers and compiled potential answers to what the group may be able to discover with the Legacy Survey of Space and Time Camera and the Simonyi Survey Telescope.

The LSST Camera and the Simonyi Survey Telescope are important to the mission, as the camera is 3.2 billion gigapixels. The LSST Camera is the largest camera built by mankind, differing greatly from our phones, which run at about 25 megapixels, according to Bochanski.

The telescope attached to the camera is designed to make it achieve a wider angle and see deeper into the sky than the camera alone.

Situated atop a mountain in Chile sits the Rubin Observatory, where the camera will capture widespread images of the sky and celestial objects.

Over the next decade, the Rubin Observatory will be mapping the sky on clear nights if weather permits. One thing that the scientists at the Rubin Observatory are hopeful to find is Planet 9, situated near Pluto.

The Rubin Observatory’s mission to map the universe is important to Bochanski, who is passionate about studying stars. He said, “It’s a really exciting time to be involved with this kind of thing. It’s not every day that a project of this scale actually launches … it’s an opportunity to really open up everybody’s eye to what the universe is doing out there and it’s going to be an exciting decade for astronomy.”

Having a Rider staff member involved with such an important mission marks a monumental feat for the university. U.S. News and World Report credits Rider for being a popular university for its business program and the performing arts, though, its science department may have new light shed upon it following the start-up of this mission.

While Rider does not have an astronomy program, that does not mean students are not interested in the cause.

Spencer Nelson, a senior psychology major, is fond of looking at the stars at night around campus and says he is “proud” that Rider has become a part of the mission of mapping the universe with the Rubin Observatory.

“We are doing a step of history, and knowing that it’s a school that I go to … that’s amazing.” Nelson continued, “the fact that we’re a part of tracking [the universe] is history in some sense. … We are still capturing moments in time … we are solidifying that we are a part of it.”

Bochanski’s passion for stars and attachment to the mission of the Rubin Observatory are proof that even at a small school like Rider, research and scientific efforts can still make groundbreaking impacts.

Bochanski stated, “It’s going to unlock a new way for us to understand the universe.”