CLUB NEWS

2nd April 2026

Dear All,

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Clare Higgs who will deliver our next talk, who is from the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory that is located on a mountain top in Chile, capturing the cosmos in exquisite detail.

After completing her undergraduate degree in Physics at Queen’s University (Ontario), Clare went on to earn her MSc and PhD in Astronomy at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, where she studied the resolved stars in nearby dwarf galaxies to understand how environment influences the structure of galaxies. She is now part of the Education & Public Outreach team at the Rubin Observatory, helping bring one of the most exciting new astronomical facilities to the global community.

Talk Theme:
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)

In 2026, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). This ambitious survey will create an unprecedented dataset of the night sky, ultimately cataloguing over 35 billion objects. The project will deliver a “movie of the sky,” enabling discoveries across many areas of astronomy — from mapping the Solar System and exploring the structure of the Milky Way to detecting transient events and investigating the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

Dr Higgs will introduce the remarkable technology behind the Rubin Observatory and explain how LSST will transform astronomy over the coming decade.

Join us for what promises to be a fascinating evening exploring one of the most exciting new surveys in modern astronomy.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Warm Regards,

Walsall Astronomical Society