National Science Foundation Names Astronomical Observatory for Notable Georgetown Alumni Vera Rubin

The National Science Foundation has chosen to name a telescope designed to conduct “a vast astronomical survey” after Vera Rubin (G’54), the renowned Georgetown alumna and physicist.

After receiving her Ph.D. from Georgetown in 1954, Dr. Rubin subsequently worked at the university as a researcher and professor. She went on to work at the Carnegie Institution, where she discovered the first evidence of dark matter.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, previously known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, is under construction in Chile and will conduct an astronomical survey called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time.