The 18-story silhouette of the nearly completed Vera C. Rubin Observatory loomed above as I looked over a field of construction remnants a few weeks back. Beside me were two-ton custom jigs and dozens of shipping mounts resembling modern art. Within eyeshot were one-to-one-scale mass surrogates representing complex telescope parts and a swimming-pool-size bulletproof crate that had held the observatory’s large reflecting mirror—a 37,000-pound glass object as fragile as a teacup—on its journey across continents and waves to this mountaintop, Cerro Pachón.
几周前，当我浏览了建筑残余的一个近方的Vera C. Rubin天文台的18层轮廓。在我旁边是两吨的定制夹具和数十个类似于现代艺术的航运架。目击者内是代表复杂望远镜零件的一对一的质量代理和一个游泳大小的防弹箱，使天文台的大型反射镜（一个37,000磅重的玻璃物体）像茶杯一样脆弱 - 在整个大洲的旅程中，并挥舞着山顶，cerropachón。
This ridge, on the edge of the Atacama Desert in Chile, some 9,000 feet above sea level, is now home to three of the world’s most powerful telescopes, including Rubin. It’s also probably one of the most unforgiving locations in the world to try to build anything, let alone something as complex as an observatory. Yet these same conditions—distance from anthropogenic light sources, a mountainous altitude above the cloud line, a crisp desert atmosphere—provide the baselines for Rubin to access the faintest of faint celestial objects.
这个山脊位于智利的Atacama沙漠的边缘，海拔约9,000英尺，现在是包括鲁宾在内的世界三个最强大的望远镜。它也可能是世界上尝试建造任何东西的最宽容的地点之一，更不用说像天文台这样的复杂的东西了。然而，这些相同的条件（从人为光源到云层上方的山区高度，沙漠的氛围越来越高）为鲁宾提供了最微弱的微弱天体物体。
The first mind-bending images taken by the observatory were released today in the tradition of “first light,” a new observatory’s ceremonial opening. The images represent a decades-long effort by a globally dispersed team of astrophysicists, data scientists, engineers, administrators, machinists, welders, bus drivers, cooks, and thousands of others completing one of the most sophisticated objects that humans have ever built.
天文台拍摄的第一张思维曲折图像是按照“第一光”的传统而发布的，这是一个新的天文台的仪式开放。这些图像代表了一支全球分散的天体物理学家，数据科学家，工程师，管理员，机械师，焊工，公共汽车司机，厨师以及成千上万的其他人完成了人类有史以来最复杂的对象之一的努力。
Since 2022, I’ve been the observatory’s artist in residence, and I’ve been closely shadowing Rubin’s work since 2017 as part of a planetary sculpture I’m making called Twelve Earths. As an artist, I find it hard not to imagine Rubin as a sculptural entity, an object that in its complexity has stretched the limits of what Earth’s storehouse of materials can accomplish. Yet for all its sheer matter—steel, glass, silver, aluminum, copper, ferroconcrete, silicon—the observatory seems to lift off into a mytho-poetic dimension.
自2022年以来，我一直是天文台的居住艺术家，自2017年以来，我一直在遮盖鲁宾的作品，这是我所做的行星雕塑的一部分。作为一名艺术家，我发现很难想象鲁宾是一个雕塑实体，这一对象在复杂性中扩大了地球材料仓库可以完成的限制。然而，尽管件，钢，玻璃，银，铝，铜，铜凝结，硅，硅 - 天文台似乎都升成了一个神话般的诗意维度。
Rubin is what’s called a “survey telescope,” making its principal artifact a map. In this case, the most elaborate, 4-D, data-dense, Borgesian map of the cosmos in motion that humans at this moment conceivably can make. It will catalog 37 billion discrete astronomical objects, revisiting them every three nights again and again, for 10 years.
鲁宾就是所谓的“调查望远镜”，这使其主要文物成为地图。在这种情况下，目前可以想象的是人类可以做到的最精致，4-D，数据密集的，鲍尔奇斯的运动。它将分类370亿个离散天文对象，每三个晚上一次又一次地重新访问10年。
To process this enormous volume of information, arguably astronomy’s first full-throated foray into big data, a physical data pipeline was built to connect the observatory to the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, where images collected from the summit will be analyzed and delivered to the inboxes of astronomers around the world—approximately 10 million alerts issued each night. In this way, Rubin is an amplifier system for existing observatories around the world: It will hand off precise coordinates so they can linger on supernovas, tidal-disruption events, gamma-ray-burst afterglow, interstellar visitors, neutrino triggers, comets, and more. Some people also liken the observatory to a planetary insurance policy, detecting near-Earth objects before they could ram into us. Others are predicting that it could generate evidence that points toward alien intelligence. Among the many charismatic analogies for Rubin, my current favorite imagines the observatory as the largest, most elaborate movie camera shooting a cosmic film that will take 10 years to complete.
为了处理这一大量信息，可以说是天文学的首次全面攻击大数据，建立了一条物理数据管道，以将观测站与加利福尼亚州的SLAC国民加速器实验室联系起来，从峰会收集的图像将分析并将其交付到世界各地的杂货店的收件箱中，每晚都有1000万个夜晚发行了1000万警报。这样，鲁宾是世界各地现有观测站的放大器系统：它将取消精确的坐标，因此它们可以徘徊在超新星，潮汐干扰事件，伽马射线抛光事件，星际访问者，中微子触发器，凸轮，彗星等。有些人还将天文台比喻为行星保险单，在将近地物的物体撞到我们之前，才能检测到近地。其他人则预测，它可能会产生指向外星智慧的证据。在鲁宾的众多魅力类似物中，我目前的最爱将天文台视为最大，最精致的电影摄像机拍摄一部宇宙电影，需要10年才能完成。
Rubin is also a rare scientific megaproject that feels excitingly relatable. Instruments such as particle accelerators, neutrino detectors, and even radio telescopes might command our awe, but they roam in realms far outside sensorial experience. At its core, Rubin is an optical telescope. This links it to a long continuum of prosthetic tools that help our bodies better do what they already do naturally—see and process light.
鲁宾也是一种罕见的科学大型身影，感觉令人兴奋。诸如粒子加速器，中微子检测器甚至射电望远镜之类的仪器可能会引起我们的敬畏，但它们在远远超出感官体验的领域中漫游。鲁宾以此为核心是光学望远镜。这将其与长期连续的假肢工具联系起来，这些工具可以帮助我们的身体更好地做他们已经自然要做的事情 - 请参阅和处理光线。
(NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/H. Stockebrand)
（NSF-DOE VERA C. RUBIN天文台/h。Stockebrand）
Still, witnessing the observatory’s core photon-capturing operations means taking in an unusual amount of choreography. Tons of steel and glass whirl with a precision that would make Swiss watchmakers envious. Enclosed within Rubin’s dome—a 360-degree rotating structure as big as an apartment building—is a gimbal-esque object called the telescope mount assembly. The machine is anchored to an island of reinforced concrete that stretches deep into the mountain, helping the telescope achieve absolute stillness for its balletic operations. The telescope assembly pivots, torques, and tilts with vertigo-inducing velocity while also balancing a camera as big as a car and an array of three massive mirrors that, together, are heavier than a tractor trailer.
尽管如此，目睹天文台的核心光子捕获操作意味着进行异常数量的编舞。大量的钢和玻璃旋转，精确地旋转，这会使瑞士制表师羡慕不已。封面在鲁宾的圆顶内（360度旋转的结构与公寓大楼一样大）是一种式式式物体，称为望远镜安装座组件。该机器固定在一个浓缩混凝土岛上，该混凝土延伸到山上，帮助望远镜实现了其弹力手术的绝对静止。望远镜组件的枢轴，扭矩和倾斜度具有阳台引起的速度，同时还平衡了像汽车一样大的相机和三个巨大的镜子，这些镜子比拖拉机拖车更重。
Rubin’s mirrors—its de facto spiritual center—live in a zone of rare alchemic perfection. Each is the result of years of jewel-like polishing and honing. The mirrors work in unison, in a unique stacked system, to coax Rubin’s gaze to a functional limit, gathering as much primordial light as possible. Riding under the mirrors is a system that autocorrects the tiny imperfections that gravity secretly imposes on tons of ultra-stiff, honeycombed glass. Every 40 seconds, as the mirrors are repositioned for their next long exposure, the actuators perform a new calculus to make a reflective surface that’s seemingly already perfect even more so. An infinitesimally small aberration here or there can foul up an otherwise good night of astronomy, if you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of an object a billion light-years away.
鲁宾的镜子 - 事实上的精神中心 - 在罕见的炼金术完美的区域中生存。每一个都是类似珠宝的抛光和磨练的结果。镜子在独特的堆叠系统中齐声工作，使鲁宾的目光凝视到功能极限，收集尽可能多的原始光。镜子下的骑行是一种自动更正重力秘密地施加在大量超强型蜂窝玻璃上的微小缺陷的系统。每40秒钟，随着镜子的下一个长期曝光而重新定位，执行器执行一个新的演算，以使反光表面看起来已经更加完美。如果您希望瞥见十亿光年的物体，那么这里或那里的无限小畸变可能会使天文学的夜晚犯规。
After the photons bounce among Rubin’s mirrors, their final stop before being transformed into data is the world’s largest digital camera. It has 189 CCD sensors producing massive 3.2-gigapixel images. Four hundred ultra-high-definition monitors would be needed to see the pixels generated in a single 30-second exposure.
在鲁宾的镜子之间弹起光子之后，他们的最后一站才被转换为数据是世界上最大的数码相机。它具有189个CCD传感器，可产生大量的3.2 g吉金斯图像。需要进行四百个超高定义监测器才能看到单个30秒的暴露中产生的像素。
In the dusk at Cerro Pachón, the field of construction bits and pieces began to feel like an archaeological site, its objects becoming artifacts of the observatory’s origins. The sun was waning toward the Andean peaks, bounding like waves toward the Pacific. Framing the view were acres of sky crossfading to the deepest cerulean on the horizon, hinting at the starscape waiting for its nightly reveal.
在CerroPachón的黄昏中，建筑物和碎片的领域开始感觉像一个考古遗址，其物体成为天文台起源的文物。太阳正朝着安第斯山峰下降，像波浪一样朝太平洋界定。构图的景色是，天空横穿了地平线上最深的Cerulean，暗示了Starscape等待其夜间展示。
A gleam of light careened off the construction debris and ricocheted into my eyes. The surplus of photons triggered a signal through my optic nerves, and in a millisecond, a web of electrical signals reached across my brain, branching into billions of neurons and trillions of synapses. Together, they formed a unique constellation, a thought: that this same light staggering my sight—in fact all light, all around us, everywhere—was composed of not only nine-minute-old local sunlight but also light from billions of the faintest space objects. Rubin hopes to tally these same sorts of deep-space particles, the kind that all of Earth is constantly microdosing, phantom starlight from the farthest reaches of the universe.
一片闪闪发光的碎片从建筑物碎片上照亮，并刻有我的眼睛。光子的盈余通过我的视神经触发了一个信号，在毫秒内，电信号遍布我的大脑，分支到了数十亿个神经元和数万亿个突触中。他们一起形成了一个独特的星座，一个思想：同样的光线使我的视线震撼了我的视线 - 实际上，在我们周围，到处都是光线 - 不仅由九分钟的当地阳光组成，而且还由数十亿最微弱的太空物体中的光线组成。鲁宾希望能够对这些相同的深空颗粒进行分解，而地球不断地微化的那种幻影恒星从宇宙最远的到达。
My eyes found a place to rest on Rubin. The thought melted into another: The tiny sliver of photons that somehow do find this observatory will be pretty special.
我的眼睛找到了一个休息的地方。这个想法融化了另一个：以某种方式发现该天文台的光子很小的光子很特别。
Regaining a bit of balance, I could make out Aaron Roodman, the deputy director of construction and the camera-program lead, walking in my direction with a small team from SLAC. I fell into step with the group, headed to the cafeteria, and asked how the afternoon went. “Really well. It’s time to chill the camera’s CCDs to 100 degrees below Celsius,” Roodman said. “The sensors each generate a tiny bit of light—it’s something we call ‘dark current.’ Chilling everything makes the electrons behave less energetically. It makes everything darker.”
恢复了一些平衡，我可以分辨出建筑副总监和摄像头的领导者亚伦·鲁德曼（Aaron Roodman）与SLAC的一支小型团队朝我的方向行走。我和小组迈出了一步，前往自助餐厅，问下午是怎么去的。鲁德曼说：“真的。现在该将相机的CCD冷却至摄氏100度。”“传感器每个传感器都产生了一点点的光 - 我们称之为“黑暗电流”。冷却一切使电子的行为不那么活力。它使一切变得更黑。”
Our conversation followed us into dinner, which we finished quickly: The team had much to wrap before the observing crew arrives for its night shift. On the walk back to the observatory, our group reached a familiar bend in the path. We pivoted slightly and were met with a panoramic Andean vista, the sun illuminating Rubin’s facade in the last of the evening’s golden-red glow. Our group paused to linger. “This never gets old. Just incredible,” Roodman let out.
我们的谈话跟随我们进入晚餐，我们很快就完成了：在观察人员到达夜班之前，团队需要包装很多东西。在回到天文台的步行路程中，我们的小组在路径上熟悉的弯道。我们略微旋转，并遇到了一个全景安第斯山脉Vista，这是当天晚上的黄金辉光，在鲁宾的立面上照亮了鲁宾的外墙。我们的小组停了下来。“这永远不会老。只是不可思议的，”鲁德曼说出来。
He was right: The sight, in its totality of overwhelming landscape and human achievement, was awesome. Here on a secluded peak, people have made real a thesis about the limits of long-form human coordination while managing a psychedelic balancing act, calibrating a machine to the smallest units of measurement in order to seek out the biggest objects in the universe.
他是对的：景象的全部压倒性景观和人类的成就真是太棒了。在一个僻静的山峰上，人们在管理迷幻平衡行为的同时，对长期人类协调的局限性进行了真正的论点，将机器校准到最小的测量单元，以寻求宇宙中最大的对象。
In the distance, I could see a small crew putting the final touches on a safety railing near Pachón’s ridgeline. Someone held a pole while someone else attached it to another. These were two touchpoints within a continuum of billions of others—a typed-out line of code, a welded seam, a bolt tightened—each moment of contact balanced by those of ancestors who’d learned to sharpen flint, fuse glass, or dream in femtoseconds.
在远处，我可以看到一个小型船员在帕孔山脊线附近的安全栏杆上进行了最终触摸。有人握着一个杆子，而其他人将其固定在另一个。这是数十亿数十亿的连续性中的两个接触点 - 一条打字的代码线，焊接的接缝，螺栓拧紧 - 接触的时刻与祖先的祖先平衡，他们学会了锐化了弗林特，融合玻璃或梦想中的梦想。
Here on this summit, it was not much of a sideways leap to imagine the observatory as a mountaintop cathedral nested above the clouds. One generation’s gift to the next—a modern iteration of an ancient sky ritual held in the darkest hours—to sustain communion with the oldest cosmic light, rendering the invisible visible for everyone to see.
在这次峰会上，想象天文台是嵌套在云层上方的山顶大教堂，这并不是一场侧向飞跃。一代人送给下一代的礼物，即在最黑暗的时刻举行的古老天空仪式的现代迭代，以维持最古老的宇宙光线，使每个人都可以看到无形的人。
