First Data from Vera Rubin Observatory Rewrites Astronomy (Starting Now)

Into the Impossible With Brian Keating

Brian Keating

Science, Physics, Natural Sciences

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

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Summary

In this exclusive interview, Professor Mario Jurić reveals how the Vera Rubin Observatory accidentally discovered 2,000 asteroids in just 10 hours while testing its capabilities on the distant Virgo Cluster—transforming humanity's asteroid discovery rate from 20,000 per year globally to potentially over one million annually with a single telescope. Jurić explains how VRO's revolutionary multi-messenger astronomy capabilities will detect dark matter's effects and light simultaneously, automatically slewing to capture cosmic catastrophes like black hole collisions within 30 seconds of detection. From mapping dark matter in galaxy clusters 54 million light-years away to building Earth's first comprehensive planetary defense system against asteroid impacts, this conversation explores how one observatory is about to fundamentally change both our understanding of the universe and our ability to survive in it. — Please join my mailing list here 👉 https://briankeating.com/list to win a meteorite 💥 — Key Takeaways: 00:00 Intro 03:10 Mario’s reaction to the first data 04:13 Democratizing astronomy and citizen science 06:38 Technical details and capabilities 11:28 First look: A fly-through of the Virgo Cluster 21:42 Rubin and the Lambda-CDM model 28:22 How faint a sensitivity can Rubin achieve 33:03 Asteroid discovery revolution 37:52 Challenges of data analysis 41:38 Astronomy and AI 46:34 What kinds of civilization-changing discoveries might be hiding in the data? 50:48 Outro — Additional resources: 🔹Skyviewer App: https://skyviewer.app/ 🔹First Images from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory: https://www.youtube.com/live/dF1g-Ru8mjM?si=Y3-lKTSjZAH_oGHl — ➡️ Follow me on your fav platforms: ✖️ Twitter:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/DrBrianKeating⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🔔 YouTube:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.youtube.com/DrBrianKeating?sub_confirmation=1⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 📝 Join my mailing list:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/list⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ✍️ Check out my blog:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/cosmic-musings/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 🎙️ Follow my podcast:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://briankeating.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ — Into the Impossible with Brian Keating is a podcast dedicated to all those who want to explore the universe within and beyond the known. Make sure to follow so you never miss an episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What you're about to see is an exclusive interview with one of the leaders of one of the most exciting observatories ever built, the Vera Rubin Observatory.
0:08.2	In just 10 hours, you captured over 2,000 asteroids, which is something like 100 times faster than the discovery rate around the whole planet.
0:16.7	Some of these asteroids could be Earth killers, and that same technology is set to revolutionize our understanding of dark matter,
0:22.8	peering in the massive Virgo cluster with unprecedented clarity.
0:26.7	When you finally see the observatory, not anymore as a CAD rendering, but it's something that is the actual amount you walk through it, and then you see the images, it's phenomenal.
0:35.6	This isn't science fiction.
0:37.2	It's the brand-new Vireruban Observatory, a testament to the groundbreaking science and legacy
0:42.0	of Vera Rubin herself.
0:43.5	Derrubin comes along and realizes, oh, yes, like this is really becoming an evidence for
0:49.7	dark matter.
0:50.3	With a gigapixel camera and unprecedented data analysis requirements.
0:54.9	Ariel Yerich is here to give us an exclusive glimpse into the data that was just released.
0:59.5	Everything we talked about today, yeah, we're going to do this, do that, but that's probably
1:03.8	not what Rubin's going to be famous for. It'll be something that's completely unknown.
1:07.2	Prepare to have your mind blown and expanded because what you're about to see is just the beginning.
1:12.8	When it holds in store will take us deep into the impossible.
1:16.1	Welcome everybody for what is an exclusive, as far as I'm aware, interview with one of the
1:22.2	leaders of the Vera Rubin Observatory, who also happens to be a tremendous individual
1:26.7	scientist, my friend,
1:28.5	Professor Mario Urich, of the University of Washington, where he is the director of their
1:34.8	Dirac Center, which is a pretty awesome responsibility, but he's also responsible, and he
1:39.7	and his group are responsible for the software that discovers time varying in motion,
	...

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