LSST-DA’s team includes active research scientists who are at the leading edge of science areas relevant to Rubin’s LSST. This month, interviews and work by LSST Discovery Alliance (LSST-DA) staff, Drs. Jeno Sokoloski (LSST-DA Chief Scientist and Catalyst Fellowship Director, Research Scientist at Columbia University) and Dan Peluso (LSST-DA Director of Strategic Engagement) were featured in Science News and Sky and Telescope.
Science News: A stellar explosion may add a temporary ‘new star’ to the night sky this summer
Dr. Sokoloski has been quoted in an article discussing the upcoming nova eruption in the binary star system, T Corona Borealis (T CrB). Her insights emphasize the significance of this celestial event, which will help astronomers better understand erupting white dwarf stars. This event is considered a “transient” event, which are short-lived astronomical phenomena, such as a novae, supernovae, or gamma-ray bursts. Transient events are one of the four main science areas of the upcoming Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
Sky & Telescope: High School Citizen Scientists Join the Hunt for Exoplanets
Dr. Peluso was featured in a Sky & Telescope article for his work with the SETI Institute’s Unistellar Citizen Science Network. This initiative involved 43 citizen scientists, including 16 high school students, whose data contributed to his Astronomical Journal article confirming the existence of two new exoplanets in the constellation Lynx, approximately 500 light-years from Earth. This achievement highlights the valuable impact of citizen science on professional astronomical research and demonstrates how science education can be transformed through collaborative efforts.
With an estimated 60 petabytes of data in its planned 10-year survey, the Rubin Observatory’s LSST will produce many opportunities for citizen scientists. Additionally, Rubin will discover many cosmic phenomena that will need quick observational follow-up by other ground-based telescopes. Citizen science networks like this can play a key role in LSST science.
