Vera C. Rubin Observatory
In 2022, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins a ten-year project to continuously capture and analyze high-resolution images of the night sky. The telescope will provide professional scientists, educators, and astronomy lovers with new rich data that will inspire scientific insights.
From the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile, Rubin Observatory will send 15TB of nightly observations to astronomers around the world, enabling new discoveries in areas as diverse as the detection of Near Earth Objects and understanding the role of Dark Energy and Dark Matter in the origins of the Universe.
Camila
Chilean Science Center
Lionel
Large Staff Planetarium
Lecia
& Future Scientist
Sandra
Small Staff Planetarium
Tanya
Title One School
Camila
Chilean Science Center
Lionel
Large Staff Planetarium
Lecia
& Future Scientist
Sandra
Small Staff Planetarium
Tanya
Title One School
Camila
Chilean Science Center
Lionel
Large Staff Planetarium
Lecia
& Future Scientist
Sandra
Small Staff Planetarium
Tanya
Title One School
We conducted generative user research and stakeholder interviews with more than fifty people to directly understand the interests and needs of the Education & Public Outreach audiences.
Based on this research, we were able to identify Rubin Observatory’s opportunities to provide distinct and differentiated value to their primary audiences reflecting the authentic science objectives of the Rubin Observatory initiative.
And for non-professionals, astronomy is a hobby, a delight and a way of seeing the Universe beyond our small blue planet.
To make Big Data Astronomy accessible to novice audiences, we worked with the EPO team, Rubin Observatory scientists, and EPO audiences to identify and create content, visualizations, and interactive experiences that support people of all skill and experience levels in appreciating Rubin Observatory discoveries, growing their knowledge, and actively participating in scientific exploration.
Starting with the prompt “I want to…” we utilized service design methods to align people’s aspirations to belong to the LSST community with their interests, access methods, and capabilities.
We created tangible steps for teachers to use Rubin Observatory data in classrooms, teens to connect with scientists, artists to visualize new imagery, and the general public to become citizen scientists. Experiences that support people of all skill and experience levels in appreciating Rubin Observatory discoveries, growing their knowledge, and actively participating in scientific exploration.
Starting with the prompt “I want to…” we utilized service design methods to align people’s aspirations to belong to the Rubin Observatory community with their interests, access methods, and capabilities.
We created tangible steps for teachers to use Rubin Observatory data in classrooms, teens to connect with scientists, artists to visualize new imagery, and the general public to become citizen scientists. Experiences that support people of all skill and experience levels in appreciating Rubin Observatory discoveries, growing their knowledge, and actively participating in scientific exploration.
Starting with the prompt “I want to…” we utilized service design methods to align people’s aspirations to belong to the Rubin Observatory community with their interests, access methods, and capabilities.
We created tangible steps for teachers to use Rubin Observatory data in classrooms, teens to connect with scientists, artists to visualize new imagery, and the general public to become citizen scientists. Experiences that support people of all skill and experience levels in appreciating Rubin Observatory discoveries, growing their knowledge, and actively participating in scientific exploration.
This project’s guiding principles and validated prototypes represent our deep understanding of people’s fundamental needs and aspirations in astronomy.
The user experience framework intentionally prepares the Vera C. Rubin Observatory EPO team to continue to realize emergent opportunities for connection and education throughout the operation of the telescope, create content, visualizations and interactive experiences that support people of all skill and experience levels in appreciating Rubin Observatory discoveries, growing their knowledge, and actively participating in scientific exploration.
Innovation achieved
Accessible Data Visualizations
Innovation achieved
Vibrant Content Portal
Innovation achieved
Astronomy on the Go!
Innovation achieved
Content & Community to Engage
Innovation achieved
Data Access & Exploration with Jupyter Science Notebooks
Innovation achieved
Accessible Data Visualizations
Prepared to utilize high resolution images captured by the Rubin Observatory, the Skyviewer enables educators and classrooms, citizen scientists, amateur astronomers, and data scientists to easily explore Rubin Observatory data and learn more about observational and time-domain astronomy.
The Skyviewer provides a tangible gateway into the Rubin Observatory’s nightly observations, providing opportunities for data exploration, analysis, and new discovery.
Innovation achieved
Vibrant Content Portal
The Rubin Observatory EPO content portal provides a launching point for the EPO’s many audiences to explore the core areas of astronomical research enabled by the Observatory.
The portal provides nightly updates to the Rubin Observatory’s ongoing operation, accessible resources and activities for educators, supported access to the data through science notebooks and API information, and media collections for use by planetariums and science centers.
Innovation achieved
Astronomy on the Go!
Mobile and tablet form factors are a critical aspect of ensuring youth and the general public can access and enjoy the Rubin Observatory data and discoveries in their free time.
The Rubin Observatory EPO content is crafted specifically for the mobile experience, enabling people to have a quick Astrosnack of information, or delve more deeply into the newly discovered wonders of The Universe.
Innovation achieved
Content & Community to Engage
Connecting not only with the science but with the actual scientists and engineers of the Rubin Observatory is an important part of the education and public outreach experience.
The ability to learn about astronomers provides a guide for youth to connect with future careers and helps the general public scaffold their knowledge of astronomy with interpersonal connection and human interest.
Innovation achieved
Data Access & Exploration with Jupyter Science Notebooks
Modern Big Data technologies are expanding and accelerating the opportunities for scientific discovery in the field of Astronomy.
The creation of Jupyter science notebooks and related resources for the Rubin Observatory’s education and public outreach program enables teachers, students, amateur astronomers, data scientists, and others to easily access, explore, analyze, and make new discoveries from the data.
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