Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory (formerly LSST, Large Synoptic Survey Telescope) is a ground-based wide-field survey telescope on Cerro Pachón, Chile, beginning science operations in 2025–2026. It is expected to detect multiple interstellar objects per year due to its deep sensitivity, wide field, and rapid cadence — enabling population-level studies of objects like 1i-oumuamua, 2I/Borisov, and 3i-atlas that were previously found only by chance.
Relevance to interstellar objects
- Prior to Rubin, only three interstellar objects had been detected (1I, 2I, 3I)
- Rubin’s systematic sky coverage is predicted to increase detection rates by 1–2 orders of magnitude
- Enables statistical testing of models like the Ōtautahi-Oxford Model that infer ISO origin populations (thin disk, thick disk, halo)
- First systematic test of whether 3i-atlas’s galactic-thick-disk origin is typical or anomalous for ISOs
Sources
- src-3i-atlas-oxford-age-2026-06 — context for future ISO detection