In the vast expanse of the cosmos, few individuals have dedicated their lives to the pursuit of knowledge as fiercely as Mario Jurić. As a leader in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), Jurić is on the forefront of one of the most ambitious surveys ever undertaken. This project, set in the pristine darkness of the Chilean desert, aims to image the entire Southern night sky every three nights over the next decade, creating a dataset that promises to be one of the most versatile and accessible in history.
Jurić's journey into the heart of survey astronomy began with a realization while writing one of his first papers. He discovered that he had estimated distances to 48 million stars, almost 700 times more than any previous paper on a similar topic. This moment marked the beginning of a new era in observational astronomy, where digital surveys were poised to dramatically increase the number of stars, planets, asteroids, and galaxies we could investigate.
What makes LSST particularly fascinating is its potential to revolutionize our understanding of the Solar System. Jurić is particularly interested in using the Rubin Observatory to detect and characterize objects such as asteroids and comets. He is excited about the discovery potential of LSST in this subfield, expecting to double the number of known asteroids in the next year and a half, and triple them by the end of the survey. Additionally, LSST is poised to find almost a factor of 7 more trans-Neptunian objects and a factor of 2 more potentially hazardous asteroids.
However, Jurić's passion for survey astronomy didn't start with the Rubin Observatory. He credits the digital revolution that happened at the turn of the century, when software became as important as telescopes and cameras, as a breakthrough that propelled his career and the field of survey astronomy. In the latter half of the 20th century, astronomers began surveying large swaths of the night sky using photographic plates, but these surveys were labor- and time-intensive.
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) marked a turning point, as astronomers started counting gigabytes instead of plate quantities. SDSS, still ongoing, has obtained images and spectra of millions of stars, galaxies, and quasars with a 2.5-m telescope at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. It was during the early years of SDSS that Jurić left his native Croatia to work on exoplanet dynamics for his PhD at Princeton, one of the leading institutions in the SDSS collaboration.
Despite the allure of large projects like LSST, Jurić encourages students to be cautious about joining them. With our knowledge of the universe being rewritten faster than you might perceive in a day-to-day routine, he advises students not to shy away from pursuing novel or out-of-the-box projects. Instead, he suggests taking risks where the payoff is more immediate, such as small teams chasing big ideas.
In conclusion, Mario Jurić's dedication to survey astronomy and his leadership in the LSST project are a testament to the power of human curiosity and innovation. As he prepares to give a Plenary Talk at the AAS 248 meeting, he reminds us that the universe is full of secrets waiting to be uncovered. It's up to us to keep exploring and pushing the boundaries of knowledge, just as he has done throughout his career.
