Majestic First Images from Rubin Observatory Show Universe in More Detail Than Ever Before
Editor's Note (6/23/25): This story will be updated with additional images and details shortly after 11 A.M. EDT.
Welcome to a mind-blowing new era of astronomy.
The long-awaited Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a cutting-edge new telescope perched atop a mountain in Chile, is releasing its first images of the universe on June 23—and its views are just as jaw-dropping as scientists hoped. (The observatory is holding a celebratory event today at 11 A.M. EDT to reveal additional images that you can watch a livestream of on YouTube. In addition, organizations are hosting watch parties open to the public around the world.)
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The new images come from only 10 hours of observations—an eyeblink compared with the telescope's first real work, the groundbreaking, 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) project. On display are billowing gas clouds that are thousands of light-years away from our solar system and millions of sparkling galaxies —all emblematic of the cosmic riches that the observatory will ultimately reveal.
'In a lot of ways, it almost doesn't matter where we look,' said Aaron Roodman, a physicist at Stanford University and program lead for the Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera, in a preview press conference held on June 9.
'We're going to see changing objects; we're going to see moving objects; we're going to get a view of thousands and thousands of galaxies of stars in any field we look at,' he said. 'In some sense, we could have looked anywhere and gotten fantastic images.'
In the end, the team decided to share several mosaics of images from the observatory that highlight its extremely wide field of view, which can capture multiple alluring targets in a single snapshot.
The view above of the Triffid Nebula (top right) and Lagoon Nebula includes data from 678 individual images captured by the Rubin Observatory. Scientists stack and combine images in this way to see farther and fainter into the universe. The Triffid Nebula, also known as M20, and the Lagoon Nebula, also known as M8, are star-forming regions both located several thousand light-years away from Earth in the constellation Sagittarius.
The observatory also captured an initial view of the Virgo Cluster, a massive clump of galaxies located in the constellation of the same name. Individual detail images (at top and below) show a mix of bright Milky Way stars against a backdrop of myriad more distant galaxies. In addition, the team has released a teaser video of a stunning zoomable view of some 10 million galaxies that was created by combining some 1,100 images taken by the new observatory.
The Rubin Observatory has promised to reveal additional imagery during the unveiling event later today, including the full video of the massive view of countless galaxies and another video depicting the more than 2,000 asteroids the telescope has already discovered in just 10 hours of observations.
These first glimpses from Rubin showcase the observatory's unprecedented discovery power. The telescope will survey the entire southern sky about once every three days, creating movies of the cosmos in full color and jaw-dropping detail.
'We've been working on this for so many years now,' says Yusra AlSayyad, an astronomer at Princeton University and the Rubin Observatory's deputy associate director for data management. 'I can't believe this moment has finally come.'
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Rubin Observatory releases 'sneak peek' of first images taken with world's largest camera
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has unveiled a "sneak peek" of the first images taken with its powerful astronomy camera — and the results are stunning. The exceptionally detailed images are peppered with multicolored stars and spiraling galaxies. In one photo, the observatory has captured two nebulae, filled with bright pink clouds of gas and dust. The Rubin Observatory is a next-generation telescope equipped with the world's largest digital camera. These first preview images are a major milestone for the observatory, which will become fully operational later this year. Representatives for the Rubin Observatory shared the stunning night-sky snaps on social media, ahead of an official presentation at 11 a.m. ET on Monday (June 23) via the Rubin Observatory's YouTube channel. Observatory staff didn't reveal which parts of the night sky were captured in the preview images, and instead asked social media users to guess. Some users were quick to point out that the bright pink nebulae were the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, located in the Sagittarius constellation around 9,000 light-years from Earth. BBC News reported that one of the other images is of the Virgo cluster. This large cluster of galaxies has more than 1,000 members. In the Virgo cluster photo, two of its spiral galaxies are clearly visible as bright blue swirls. Related: James Webb telescope unveils largest-ever map of the universe, spanning over 13 billion years Researchers plan to use the Rubin Observatory's massive camera to observe the universe from Earth in never-before-seen detail. Jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, the Rubin Observatory is located high in the Chilean Andes, on a mountain called Cerro Pachón. Later this year, the Rubin Observatory will begin surveying the night sky as part of a 10-year mission. By capturing images around every 40 seconds, researchers will create a time-lapse of the visible universe across space and over time. When it's finished, the Rubin Observatory will have collected the largest optical astronomy dataset in history, according to the Rubin Observatory. RELATED STORIES —'People thought this couldn't be done': Scientists observe light of 'cosmic dawn' with a telescope on Earth for the first time ever —Catastrophic collision between Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies may not happen after all, new study hints —JWST spies frigid alien world on bizarre orbit: 'One of the coldest, oldest and faintest planets that we've imaged to date' "This enormous, all-purpose dataset will bring the night sky to life, enabling scientists around the world to better understand the nature of dark matter and dark energy, create an inventory of the Solar System, map the Milky Way, explore the dynamic sky, and more," a representative from the observatory wrote on YouTube. The Rubin Observatory's next-generation camera should help spot "planet killer" asteroids hiding in the sun's glare, and may also help settle the debate as to whether there's a ninth planet hiding in the outer solar system.
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Vera C Rubin Observatory reveals 1st stunning images of the cosmos. Scientists are 'beyond excited about what's coming'
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has released its first images as it begins its 10-year mission conducting the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The LSST will revolutionize astronomy with one of its primary aims being the investigation of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the universe, and dark matter, the strange substance that accounts for 85% of the "stuff" in the cosmos but remains effectively its perch atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, a mountain that rises around 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level, Rubin scans the entire night sky over the Southern Hemisphere once every three nights. This endeavor will be the most extensive continuous mapping of the southern sky ever attempted, and will be conducted by Rubin using the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope and the LSST camera (LSSTCam), the largest digital camera ever constructed at around the size of a small car. Just one image from the LSSTCam covers an area equivalent to the size of 45 full moons in the sky. Above is the observatory's first image of the Virgo cluster, a vast cluster of galaxies located around 53.8 million light-years from Earth. The image shows a vast array of celestial objects, including galaxies and stars. Demonstrating the true potential of Rubin, this image alone contains a rich tapestry of about 10 million galaxies. Staggeringly, the ten million galaxies in the above image are just 0.05% of the number of around 20 billion galaxies that Rubin will have imaged by the end of the LSST. In fact, in a decade, Rubin will have collected data on an estimated 40 billion celestial bodies, meaning we will have seen more heavenly bodies than there are humans alive for the first time. Unsurprisingly, many of these objects are completely new and viewed by humanity for the first time today. The objects that are familiar have been highlighted in the image below. "The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will allow us to add depth and dynamism to the observation of the universe," Roberto Ragazzoni, president of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), said in a statement. "With this 8-meter class telescope capable of continuously mapping the southern sky every three days, we enter the era of 'astro-cinematography', exploring a new dimension: that of time, with which we expect to study the cosmos with a new perspective, which is now possible thanks also to the use of new information technologies to process a mass of data that would otherwise be inscrutable." One of the most impressive abilities of Rubin will be its capability to study objects that change in brightness over time as it builds the "greatest movie of all time." This unique power comes from the fact that Rubin can scan the sky at superfast speeds, around 10 to 100 times faster than similar large telescopes. The "transients" it sees will include over 100 million variable stars changing their brightness because of pulsations, thermal instabilities, and even because of planets "transiting," or passing between Rubin and their visible disks. Rubin will also be able to observe millions of massive stars as they end their lives and undergo supernova explosions. The groundbreaking observatory will also investigate so-called "type Ia supernovas," triggered when dead star-white dwarfs undergo runaway nuclear explosions after overfeeding on stellar companions. Type Ia supernovas are also known as "standard candles" due to the fact that their consistent luminosities allow astronomers to use them to measure cosmic distances. Thus, Rubin will also make an indirect impact on astronomy by providing scientists with a wealth of new and better-understood distances between objects in the universe. Closer to home, by observing objects as they change in brightness in the night-sky, Rubin will provide astronomers with a better picture of asteroids and small bodies as they orbit Earth. This could help space agencies like NASA assess potential threats to Earth and defend against asteroids. The YouTube video below shows over 2,100 new asteroids discovered by Rubin in its first week of operations alone. "If something in the sky moves or changes, Rubin will detect it and distribute the information in real time to the entire world. This means that we will be able to observe transient phenomena in action, making new, often unexpected, astrophysical discoveries possible," said Sara (Rosaria) Bonito of the Board of Directors of the LSST Discovery Alliance of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. "Rubin will produce a true multi-colored movie of the sky, lasting an entire decade. A movie that will allow us to see the universe as never before: not just through static images, but in dynamic evolution." Hours before the release of the main images above at 11 a.m. EDT (1500 GMT) on Monday (June 23), the Rubin team released several smaller "preview" images that are smaller sections of these larger images. These give the general public an opportunity to witness the incredible detail in images captured by the LSST camera. "These sneak preview images already highlight the uniqueness of Rubin to look at the cosmos in a way that we have never done before, bringing the sky to life!" Andrés Alejandro Plazas Malagón, a researcher at Stanford University and part of the Rubin Observatory's Community Science Team, told "These preview images also already highlight the sophistication and power of the software used to reduce or 'clean' the images: the LSST Science Pipelines."The image below shows the Triffid nebula (also known as Messier 20 or NGC 6514) in the top right, which is located around 9,000 light-years from Earth, and the Lagoon nebula (Messier 8 or NGC 6523), estimated to be 4,000 to 6,000 light-years away. These are regions in which clouds of gas and dust are condensing to birth new stars. The above picture combines 678 separate images taken by Rubin over just over 7 hours of observing time. By combining images like this, Rubin is capable of revealing details otherwise too faint to see or practically invisible. This reveals the clouds of gas and dust that comprise these nebulae in incredible detail. "The Trifod-Lagoon image shows these two nebulae or 'stellar nurseries' highlighting regions of gas and dust, made from about 678 individual images," Plazas Malagón said. "It's impressive how the large field of view of LSSTCam captured the scene all at once!"The image below shows a small section of Rubin's total view of the Virgo cluster. The bright foreground stars in this image are located closer to home, lying in the Milky Way. In the background are many galaxies even more distant than the Virgo cluster. The image below shows another small slice of Rubin's total view of the Virgo cluster. Visible in the lower right of the image are two prominent spiral galaxies. In the upper right of the image are three galaxies that are colliding and merging. The image also contains several other groups of distant galaxies, as well as a wealth of stars in our galaxy. It is just one 50th of the entire image it came from. "The other preview images show a fraction of the Virgo cluster, a galaxy cluster of about 1,000 galaxies. Built from about 10 hours of data, we already see the capability of Rubin to capture the faintest objects with exquisite detail, which will enable amazing science. And these images are just about 2 percent of the field of view of a single LSSTcam image!" Plazas Malagón said. Related Stories: — How the Rubin observatory could detect thousands of 'failed stars' — World's largest digital camera to help new Vera Rubin Observatory make a 'time-lapse record of the universe' (video) — Rubin Observatory aces 1st image tests, gets ready to use world's largest digital camera Following the release of these images, the next big step for Rubin with be the beginning of the LSST, which should occur over the next few months."The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its first LSST project are a unique opportunity for the new generation," Bonito said. "It is a great legacy for anyone who wants to approach scientific disciplines, offering a revolutionary tool for astrophysics and new technologies for data interpretation."Bonito added that the astrophysics that can be done with Rubin is extremely diversified: a single observation campaign will allow us to respond to very broad scientific themes, which concern our galaxy but also dark matter, our solar system, and even the most unpredictable phenomena that occur in the sky." And with 10 years of the LSST ahead of it, the future of Rubin and astronomy in general is bright."These preview images also already highlight the sophistication and power of the LSST Science Pipelines software used to reduce or 'clean' the images," Plazas Malagón concluded. "As an observational cosmologist and having worked in the development of the LSST Science Pipelines and the characterization of the LSSTCam, I'm proud and beyond excited about what's coming!" To dive into the first image from Rubin and explore for yourself, visit the Vera C. Rubin Observatory SkyViewer page.
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'Staggering' first images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory show 10 million galaxies — and billions more are on the way
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. After decades of preparation, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory released its first images to the world in a live stream on Monday (June 23). The photos, taken by the world's largest digital camera, are highly-detailed and show relatively large areas of the sky. In a televised news conference, scientists from the observatory revealed new details about the images that far surpass the "sneak peek" images released earlier in the day. In fact, an awe-inspiring spiral galaxy image shared prior to the press conference on Monday only shows about 2% of the space cataloged in Rubin's first photo of the night sky, project scientists revealed. The full image includes 10 million galaxies in and around the Virgo Cluster, many of which have never been seen before, Zeljko Ivezic, Project Scientist at Rubin and Deputy Director of the observatory's Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) construction project, said during the live stream. The complete image is a whopping 3200 megapixels, which would need to be displayed on 400 ultra-high-definition TV screens for human eyes to resolve it — enough monitors to blanket an entire basketball court — Ivezic explained. You can find all of the first-look images on the observatory's website, including a searchable and zoomable version of the full 3200-megapixel image. In the observatory's first year of operation, it will gather more data than all other existing optical observatories combined, according to a statement from the observatory. This data will be freely available to scientists in hopes that it will lead to critical new discoveries about the universe, including the locations of previously unseen asteroids, insights into the properties of dark matter and dark energy — two invisible entities that make up a majority of the universe but remain poorly understood — and more. Related: Vera C. Rubin Observatory: The groundbreaking mission to make a 10-year, time-lapse movie of the universe "I trust that the stunning images and staggering amount of data the observatory will produce will support exceptional scientific efforts around the world," said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, in the conference. During its planned 10 years of operation, Rubin will produce about 20 terabytes of data per night by taking high-resolution photographs of the night sky at 30-second intervals, according to the statement. By the end of its run, the observatory will have captured an estimated 40 billion celestial objects and taken trillions of measurements. The Rubin team hopes that this data will advance understanding of mysterious cosmic phenomena. "Starting today, our ability to understand dark matter, dark energy and planetary defense will grow even faster than ever before," Brian Stone, chief of staff of the National Science Foundation, which operates the Observatory along with the U.S. Department of Energy, said in the conference. Once fully operational later this year, Rubin will continuously take photos of the night sky to capture every possible movement of the celestial objects it can see. It will collect about 1,000 images per night, covering the Southern sky every three or four nights. These images will then be stitched together to create an extremely detailed time-lapse movie of the universe. The time-lapse will reveal the nightly movements of asteroids, comets, stars, supernovas, galaxies and possibly other cosmic phenomena that are as yet unknown, the statement noted. RELATED STORIES —It's Official: Vera Rubin Observatory Named to Honor Dark Matter Scientist —Could scientists stop a 'planet killer' asteroid from hitting Earth? —'Everything we found shattered our expectations': Archaeologists discover 1st astronomical observatory from ancient Egypt In its first few nights of observations, for example, the Rubin Observatory pinpointed the locations of more than 2,000 previously unknown asteroids moving through our solar system. By the end of its mission, the observatory is expected to discover some 5 million new asteroids — about five times the number of all known asteroids discovered in the last 200 years, researchers said in the conference. "The movie has started, the camera is running and we're going to see our cosmos unfold before us," said Chris Wright, Secretary for the Department of Energy, in the conference.
