Space enthusiasts will know — it's easy to get caught up in a wealth of fascinating developments, from missions to the lunar surface to new discoveries in exoplanet science. But as an astronomer, what has me really excited right now is a largely overlooked development here on Earth that could have profound implications for how we understand the development of life on our planet and one of its most unique features: our oceans.
With little fanfare, the forthcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile marked a major construction milestone on April 27. Workers on the telescope finished a reflective coating on the primary mirror, giving it the power to capture light from extremely dim objects in the night sky that we currently cannot detect on a regular basis.
