Las Cumbres Observatory Updates

In what would be one of her last LCO agenda items, Scientist and LCO Development Director Sandra Seale,Ph.D, announced that the organization is the recipient of a $3.8 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. These funds will purchase new cameras for LCO 1-m telescope global network, providing a significant enhancement in efficiency and image quality. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has provided $6 million in grants to LCO for programming and technical upgrades (2021); and for two additional telescopes on the Canary Islands to add to the telescope network (2018).

If you’re a fan of my news column, you’ve likely read my interviews with the Las Cumbres Observatory founder Wayne Rosing and President and Director Lisa Storrie-Lombardi PhD, along with their leading scientist team with Tim Lister PhD, Rachel Street PhD, Andy Howell PhD, and their team, whose genius, research, and database link us humble earthlings to the great universe of galaxies, stars, black holes, and yes, deflecting asteroids!

In my April 2024 interview with Rosing, he detailed how he moved from his career in computers to his love of space by founding the LCO in order to construct a global, robotically linked network of telescopes. His mission – to capture astro events as they move continuously through space. And yes, Spock, they can do it from their smart phones. All the data is stored to the LCO database, with prioritized availability offered to astrophysicists and universities for research, and later to the general public. 

My next news update will include details on what cameras are being selected (including their imaging specs), who is making and installing the new cameras, and when the updates will start rolling out. In the interim, Storrie-Lombardi explains, “The new cameras provide enhanced sensitivity and a faster cadence for taking observations. It provides the equivalent of adding four telescopes-worth of capacity.” Rosing adds, “Our observatory is a machine for the discovery of new astronomical events and the physics of the cosmos. This grant from the Moore Foundation will increase our capacity to better serve all of our science partners.” 

When I reached out to Seale, my LCO contact for 10+ years, she announced that she is retiring and has taken on a new project – a story that will also be forthcoming after the holidays! We give her the Spock Vulcan hand salute – “Live Long and Prosper” – for her dedication.

For more astro experiences and news, attend the final Astro on Tap for 2025, on December 11, doors open at 6 pm. Guest speaker Natasha Abrams, PhD, from UC Berkley will speak on the topic of Black Holes, and Astro News will be delivered by Andy Howell, PhD, and Katarzyna Kruszyńska,PhD.  

411: https://lco.global/