Vera Rubin Observatory Update
I couldn’t resist sharing this video showing the state of play with the Vera Rubin Observatory, currently under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile. This is a huge survey telescope with an 8.4m mirror and enormous camera to match, the main task for which will be a ten-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) which has the same initials as the former name of the telescope (the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope). That’s obviously so they carry on using the LSST name for their website and elsewhere.
Anyway, the mount assembly has now been installed and tested (in both altitude and azimuth) so you can now get good idea of what the telescope will look like when it’s completed. It’s an amazing piece of engineering, particularly when you see such a huge piece of kit so finely balanced that it can be moved by hand…
In the Dark 
September 24, 2021 at 7:19 pm
The telescope also has a separate name, Simonyi Survey Telescope after donor Charles Simonyi. It must be had trying pay tribute to so many people…