These unique capabilities are key to performing follow-up observations of discoveries by current astronomical surveys as well as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), a planned 10-year survey of the Southern Hemisphere sky conducted by a new astronomical facility located in Cerro Pachón, Chile. Providing open access to the LCO network for all astronomers, regardless of institution, at a time when the field of time-domain astronomy is blossoming, not only benefits the scientific community, but also strengthens the impact of LSST by allowing a greater breadth of ideas to come to fruition.

To learn more about the announcement, please visit the Las Cumbres Observatory’s website.

The Foundation’s Science program has awarded over $6.5 million in grants to LCO since 2017, including a $900,000 award that provided astronomers with the opportunity to kickstart research programs in anticipation of LSST’s launch. Our grants to LCO align with the goal of the Foundation’s astronomy and cosmology grantmaking to enhance and accelerate new scientific discoveries that illuminate a basic understanding of the universe and its celestial objects and processes.