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India Today
an hour ago
- Science
- India Today
World's largest digital camera unveils dazzling first images of the universe
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, perched atop Cerro Pachon in Chile, has released the first breathtaking images from the world's largest digital camera, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the initial 'first look' shots, unveiled Monday, showcase vibrant scenes of nebulas, stars, and galaxies—heralding a new era in astronomical observatory's 3,200-megapixel camera, the largest ever constructed, captured the colorful Trifid and Lagoon nebulas—vast clouds of gas and dust located thousands of light-years from Earth in the constellation These images, composed from hundreds of exposures taken over just seven hours, reveal intricate details and previously hidden structures within these stellar nurseries. The LSST Camera at the heart of Rubin Observatory captures extremely fine features in distant galaxies, stars, and other celestial objects. (Photo: VCRO) Also featured are dazzling spiral galaxies within the Virgo Cluster, including two bright blue spirals, and a mosaic of millions of stars and galaxies, some never before by the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, the $810 million observatory is set to scan the southern sky every three to four nights for the next decade, aiming to image 20 billion galaxies and discover countless new asteroids and celestial phenomena. advertisementIn its first test observations alone, the Rubin Observatory identified thousands of asteroids, including several near-Earth objects, none of which pose a threat to our planet. Rubin will generate approximately 20 terabytes of data per night, plus an additional 15 petabyte catalog database. (Photo: VCRO) Named after pioneering astronomer Vera Rubin—whose work provided the first compelling evidence for dark matter—the observatory is poised to deepen our understanding of the universe's most elusive mysteries, including dark energy and the nature of cosmic evolution.'The Rubin Observatory will capture more information about our universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined,' said Brian Stone, acting director of the National Science Foundation. The amount of data gathered by Rubin Observatory in its first year alone will be greater than that collected by all other optical observatories combined. (Photo: VCRO) Scientists and astronomers worldwide are eagerly anticipating the observatory's full scientific mission, which promises to transform our view of the cosmos and inspire new generations of more images are released, the world will watch as the Vera C. Rubin Observatory continues its groundbreaking journey, mapping the universe in stunning detail and revealing the ever-changing tapestry of the night sky- Ends
Scientific American
a day ago
- Science
- Scientific American
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.) On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. 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.'
National Geographic
a day ago
- Science
- National Geographic
These are the first images from Earth's giant new telescope
This image shows another small section of NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory's total view of the Virgo cluster. Visible are two prominent spiral galaxies (lower right), three merging galaxies (upper right), several groups of distant galaxies, many stars in the Milky Way galaxy and more. Image by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Perched high in the foothills of Chile's Andes mountains, a revolutionary new space telescope has just taken its first pictures of the cosmos—and they're spectacular. Astronomers are excited about the first test images released from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory , which show the universe in unprecedented detail, from violent cosmic collisions to faraway nebulas. 'It's really a great instrument. Its depth and large field of view will allow us to take really nice images of stars, especially faint ones,' says Christian Aganze, a galactic archeologist at Stanford University who will use the observatory's data to study the formation and evolution of the Milky Way. 'We are truly entering a new era.' The observatory has a few key components: A giant telescope, called the Simonyi Survey Telescope, is connected to the world's largest and highest resolution digital camera. Rubin's 27-foot primary mirror, paired with a mind-boggling 3,200-megapixel camera, will repeatedly take 30-second exposure images of vast swaths of the sky with unrivaled speed and detail. Each image will cover an area of sky as big as 40 full moons . (Vera Rubin was the GOAT of dark matter) Simonyi Survey Telescope at night, Vera Rubin Observatory, Chile. May 30, 2025. Photograph by Tomás Munita, National Geographic Every three nights for the next 10 years, Rubin will produce a new, ultra-high-definition map of the entire visible southern sky. With this much coverage, scientists hope to create an updated and detailed 'movie' they can use to view how the cosmos changes over time. 'Since we take images of the night sky so quickly and so often, we'll detect millions of changing objects literally every night. We also will combine those images to be able to see incredibly dim galaxies and stars, including galaxies that are billions of light years away,' said Aaron Roodman, program lead for the LSST Camera at Rubin Observatory and Deputy Director for the observatory's construction, at a press conference in early June. 'It has been incredibly exciting to see the Rubin observatory begin to take images. It will enable us to explore galaxies, stars in the Milky Way, objects in the solar system—all in a truly new way.' This image shows another small section of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's total view of the Virgo cluster. Visible are two prominent spiral galaxies (lower right), three merging galaxies (upper right), several groups of distant galaxies, many stars in the Milky Way galaxy and more. Image by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory The first set of images taken with Rubin's specially-designed digital camera unveils the universe in startling detail. Researchers combined seven hours of observations into a single image which captures the ancient light cast out by the Lagoon Nebula and the Trifid Nebula. These vast clouds of interstellar gas and dust are 4,350 light-years away and 4,000 light-years away from Earth, respectively. Two other photos show the telescope's view of the Virgo Cluster, a mix of nearly 2,000 elliptical and spiral galaxies. Bright stars from our own cosmic neighborhood shine amongst sprawling systems of stars, gas, and dust held together by gravity. Each of the scattered pin-prick dots in the background represents a distant galaxy. Observation Specialist Lukas Eisert at the Control Room of Vera Rubin Observatory, Chile. May 30, 2025. Photograph by Tomás Munita, National Geographic William O'Mullane, deputy project manager specializing in software, looking at images shot at Vera Rubin Observatory, Chile. May 31, 2025. Photograph by Tomás Munita, National Geographic Rubin's images of the Virgo Cluster also show the chaotic jumble of merging galaxies—a process that plays a crucial role in galaxy evolution. (The four biggest mysteries the Vera Rubin Observatory could solve) 'The Virgo cluster images are breathtaking,' Aganze says.'The level of detail, from the large-scale merging galaxies to details in the spiral structure of individual galaxies, more distant galaxies in the background, foreground Milky Way stars, all in one image, is transformative!' The first images shown to the public, Roodman added, 'provide just a taste of Rubin's discovery power.' For the next decade, Rubin will capture millions of astronomical objects each day—or more than 100 every second. Ultimately, it's expected to discover about 17 billion stars and 20 billion galaxies that we've never seen before. In this immense image, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory offers a brand new view of two old friends: the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae. The image provides a demonstration of what makes Rubin unique: its combination of an extremely wide field of view and the speed that allows it to take lots of big images in a very short time. Combining images reveals subtle details in the clouds of gas and dust. The more images we can combine, the more detail we see! This almost 5-gigapixel image combines 678 exposures taken in just 7.2 hours of observing time, and was composed from about two trillion pixels of data in total. No other observatory is capable of producing an image of such a wide area so quickly and with this much depth. The Trifid Nebula (also referred to as Messier 20) is a standout in the sky. It's a bright, colorful cloud of gas and dust about 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Sagittarius. What makes it especially striking is the combination of features packed into one place: a glowing pink emission nebula, a cool blue reflection nebula, and dark dust lanes that split it into three sections—hence the name 'Trifid.' Inside, new stars are forming and blasting out strong winds and radiation, carving up the gas around them. It gives us a dramatic glimpse at how massive stars shape their surroundings even as they're being born. Below the Trifid Nebula in this image is the Lagoon Nebula (or Messier 8), another vibrant stellar nursery glowing about 4,000 light-years away. You can actually spot the Lagoon with just a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. At its heart is a cluster of young, massive stars—their intense radiation lights up the surrounding gas and shapes the swirling clouds into intricate patterns. The Lagoon nebula provides scientists with a great place to study the earliest stages of star formation—how giant clouds collapse, how star clusters take shape, and how newborn stars start to reshape their environment. This expansive image of Trifid and Lagoon together exposes an intricate web of dust lanes and star clusters that make this part of the Milky Way come alive with cosmic activity. The exquisite detail in the structure of the nebulosity shown here demonstrates the exceptional quality of Rubin's entire system—from its light-collecting power, to its sensitive camera, to its efficient data transfer and processing system. Over ten years, Rubin Observatory will take millions of images and will image each place in the sky, including this one, about 800 times. Every time we look at the Universe in a new way, we discover new things we never could have predicted—and with Rubin we will see more than we ever have before. The image was captured by Rubin Observatory using the 3200-megapixel LSST Camera—the largest digital camera in the world. We invite you to zoom in and explore the details in this unique image! Image by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory The concept for the project was conceived roughly 30 years ago to maximize the study of open questions in astronomy with cutting-edge instrumentation. Construction began in 2014 in Chile's Cerro Pachón, at an altitude of 8,900 feet. Originally named the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, it was renamed in 2019 in honor of the American astronomer Vera C. Rubin , whose work provided the first observational evidence of dark matter. When the observatory begins science operations in earnest later in 2025, its instruments will yield a deluge of astronomical data that will be too overwhelming to process manually. (Each night, the observatory will generate around 20 terabytes of data .) So computer algorithms will sift through the large volumes of data, helping researchers flag any patterns or rare events in a particular patch of sky over time. Astronomers expect high-quality observations taken with the telescope will help map out the structure of the universe, find comets and potentially hazardous asteroids in our solar system, and detect exploding stars and black holes in distant galaxies. The Vera Rubin Observatory lit by a patch of light at sunrise. Photograph by Tomás Munita, National Geographic The observatory will also examine the optical counterparts of gravitational wave events—ripples in the fabric of space caused by some of the most energetic processes in the cosmos. By studying these events, astronomers hope to uncover the secrets of the invisible forces that shape the universe like dark matter and dark energy. 'Those first few images really show the results of those 10 years of really hard and meticulous work that the whole team has put into it, ranging from designing, simulating, to assembling, characterizing and calibrating every single part of the observatory, telescope, camera, the data pipeline, everything was really done very meticulously,' said Sandrine Thomas, deputy director of Rubin Observatory and the observatory's telescope and site scientist, at the June press conference. 'I really feel privileged to have worked with such a talented and dedicated multinational team,' Thomas added. 'It's really impressive.'
India Today
7 days ago
- Science
- India Today
World's largest digital camera is ready to click at 3,200 megapixels
World's largest digital camera is ready to click at 3,200 megapixels 17 Jun, 2025 Credit: Rubin Observatory The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is home to the world's largest digital camera, designed to photograph the entire visible sky every few nights using its powerful 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope. The observatory's LSST Camera weighs about 3,000 kg (6,600 lbs), is the size of a small car, and features a 3,200-megapixel sensor—equal to the resolution of 260 modern smartphones. The camera's imaging power is so immense that a single photo would require hundreds of ultra-high-definition TV screens to display in full detail. The camera's sensors are kept at -100°C to ensure image clarity, and it can switch between six giant color filters (u, g, r, i, z, y) in under two minutes, allowing scientists to study the universe in multiple wavelengths. Over ten years, the observatory will create a time-lapse 'movie' of the night sky, helping astronomers study billions of galaxies, asteroids, and cosmic events, and unravel mysteries like dark matter and dark energy. Built at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California and shipped to Chile in 2024, the camera is scheduled for installation in early 2025, with its first images set to be released on June 23, 2025
India Today
17-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
World's largest digital camera is about to release its first pictures
A moment that could change the world of astronomy and our understanding of the cosmos is set to unfold as the Vera C Rubin Observatory, with the world's largest camera, unveils its first telescope, which has been over two decades in the making, is designed to create the ultimate movie of the night sky using the largest camera ever built, repeatedly scanning the sky to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the LSST Camera weighs around 3,000 kilograms, roughly the size of a small car, yet about twice as heavy. It boasts a staggering 3,200-megapixel sensor, equivalent to the combined resolution of 260 modern smartphone cameras. Rubin Observatory's engineering test camera, the Commissioning Camera (ComCam) was removed from the telescope in December 2024. (Photo: VCO) The camera's sheer imaging power is unprecedented: it would take hundreds of ultra-high-definition TV screens to display a single photograph captured by this to peer deep into the cosmos, the camera will enable scientists to observe billions of distant galaxies and faint, nearby objects that were previously beyond ensure the highest image quality, the camera's sensors are kept at an extremely cold temperature of -100C, minimising the number of defective pixels and ensuring the clarity of each shot. The device is also equipped with a sophisticated filter system, allowing it to switch between six massive colour filters — each 75 centimetres across — in under two filters, labelled u, g, r, i, z, and y, span wavelengths from ultraviolet to infrared, granting the camera 'superhuman' vision and allowing astronomers to study the universe in unprecedented at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California, the LSST Camera was shipped to Chile in May 2024 and is scheduled for installation on the Simonyi Survey Telescope in early 2025. NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, will revolutionise the way we explore the cosmos. (Photo: VCO) Once operational, the camera will work in tandem with the observatory's large mirrors, collecting and focusing cosmic light onto its powerful sensors. The resulting data will be transmitted worldwide for processing and capturing the sky in multiple colours over the next decade, the Rubin Observatory's camera will provide scientists with a treasure trove of information, helping to unravel mysteries about the universe's structure, evolution, and the nature of dark matter and dark anticipation builds for the camera's first images, the scientific community and the public alike await a new window into the cosmos. The pictures will be unveiled on June 23.
