NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory

@vrubinobs

Get ready for a new era in astronomy and astrophysics with Rubin Observatory! Para español siga a Instagram:

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 18d

Each generation of telescope and camera technology has built upon the outstanding legacies of those that came before, sharpening our view of the cosmos and revealing more details that were previously hidden.🔭🧪

The bright cores of four interacting galaxies surrounded by some distant stars in a dark sky. The background is mostly black with few distinguishable features. Text reads "Digitized Sky Survey II, 1994. ~21 mag (~foreground sky)"

The bright cores of four interacting galaxies with small halos of diffuse gas and stars. They're surrounded by some distant stars in a dark sky. The background is mostly black with few distinguishable features. Text reads "Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 2000. ~22 mag (~2.5x fainter)"

A large cluster of four interacting galaxies connected by wispy, cottony streams of gas and stars by some distant stars in a dark sky. The background is mostly black, with dozens of distant stars and galaxies of various colors, sizes, and shapes.. Text reads "Dark Energy Camera, 2014. ~24 mag (~23x fainter)"

A large merging system of four galaxies connected by diffuse gas and star cloud that look like cotton. The background is sprinkled with hundreds of distant stars and galaxies of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Text reads "Rubin First Look, 2025. ~27 mag (~250x fainter)"

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 18d

Talk about a cosmic glow-up✨📸 This progression of images of galaxy group RSCG 55 shows the evolution of ground-based sky surveys spanning more than three decades🤯, ending with NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's view. 🔭🧪

Five-panel image showing the progressive evolution of sky surveys from 1994 to 2025, revealing more and more detail in a triple merging galaxy system and the surrounding sky.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 18d

📢 Calling educators who teach intro astronomy: help us better understand what you need and want when it comes to astronomy education resources! 🌌🍎 Your feedback will help us design effective tools. 🔭 🔗: https://research.rockman.com/s/educator-survey-summer-2026/tt-ttQaT 📷: A. Allen/Rockman et. al

Two people collaborate on a laptop displaying an Rubin online education investigation during a group workshop in a conference room.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 18d

On this day in 1928, Dr. Vera C. Rubin was born 🔭🧪 At 14, she built her first telescope out of a cardboard tube. Her work provided the first convincing evidence of dark matter, & scientists' quest to understand dark matter led to the idea that became NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory 🌌

A composite image showing Dr. Vera Rubin in grayscale standing at a large telescope, with Rubin Observatory in teal in the background atop its rocky summit site.

Grayscale woman with short hair and glasses uses a tabletop instrument.

Woman with short white hair and glasses leaning against a marble wall.

A young Vera Rubin with shoulder-length hair looking through a telescope at Vassar College around 1947 in a black and white photo.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 25d

📬 You've got mail! Except "mail" is "millions of alerts from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory every night." Rubin's alert brokers ingest, contextualize, and help scientists sort events in the public alert stream, like a cosmic “mark as important.” ⭐ 🔗: https://ow.ly/o2vT50ZoEmJ

Low-angle view of a large observatory dome with louvered panels beneath a clear, starry sky. The Milky Way's bright core and wispy dust lanes arc diagonally overhead. Credit: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/H. Stockebrand

Illustration of a white, boot-shaped observatory on a mountain ridge beneath starry sky and a teal Milky Way band stretching from lower left to upper right. Dozens of "DATA ALERT" icons are scattered across the sky. Credit: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 27d

Solar System reviews: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ☄️Comet 3I/ATLAS: "Nice place. Just passing through." NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory captured this NOIRLab #ImageOfTheWeek on 19 Dec 2025. Rubin is expected to reveal more interstellar objects, helping scientists compare our Solar System with other systems.

Comet 3I/ATLAS colored blue, with a bright rounded coma at upper right and a broad, faint blue tail sweeping diagonally left across a field dotted with stars and faint galaxies. Credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/C. Chandler

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· 28d

Check out this view ➡️ 🤩 Cerro Pachón definitely understood the assignment. This panoramic sunset view captures NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory atop its summit site above the Chilean landscape. 🔭🧪 The night skies here are spectacular, but the mountains put on quite a show before the stars come out too 🌟

Panoramic sunset over rugged mountain landscape. A winding road recedes under orange‑pink clouds, and a large boot-shaped white telescope building stands at right beside a metal guardrail.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 10

A pair of Gatos Andinos, which are extremely rare Andean mountain cats, were recently spotted down the ridge from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory near the 4-m SOAR Telescope. 🔭🧪 Because they live in such remote mountain terrain, seeing them up close is a rare treat 🐱 📷: SOAR Day Crew

A small spotted wildcat blending into rocky terrain and dry shrubs.

A small wildcat with a spotted coat peers over rocks toward the left among dry shrubs.

A spotted wildcat leaps over rocky terrain with sparse vegetation.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 8

Before a night of discovery begins, there's this 🌅 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory basks in the sunset glow in this NOIRLab #ImageOfTheWeek, captured in June 2025. Rubin's site in Chile was chosen because of its exceptional observing conditions, but it's also not a bad office view!

Panoramic sunset view of a boot-shaped observatory with open dome on a rocky ridge. Golden light highlights the tops of the rolling mountain peaks beneath a deep blue sky thats fades to orange at the horizon.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 6

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is the next step, bringing in the era of big-data survey astronomy. Rubin is the most powerful survey observatory ever built, capable of not only capturing the entire southern sky, but doing it on repeat every few nights for a decade! 🔭🧪

The Virgo cluster of galaxies as captured by Rubin Observatory: a few large and smooth galaxies like yellow polished stones with countless smaller galaxies and stars of varying sizes, shapes, and colors sprinkled throughout. Text labels note dozens of objects of interest. Text reads: “The Rubin era: big-data astronomy surveys,” with Spanish translation.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 6

Then we developed CCDs and digital detectors, which turned light into precise data that computers could analyze. Around the turn of the century, advances in software and computing made large-scale sky surveys possible for the first time. 🔭🧪

Large yellow instrument mounted under a white observatory telescope in a control room. Two women operate the telescope nearby. Text reads: “The digital revolution: CCDs and computers,” in English and Spanish.

Night sky over three observatory domes. A red arc and white radial lines along the right denotes the area of sky studied by a specific astronomy survey called the Dark Energy Survey. Text reads: “Mapping the sky at scale with surveys and software,” in English and Spanish.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 6

How it started, and how it's going ✨ Astronomy used to mean studying a single object at a time, often by eye or through early telescopes. 🔭🧪 Then came photographic plates, which let us capture the sky for later study. 🧵

Split image: left, John Herschel’s 1847 drawing of the Orion Nebula; right, starry sky over the boot-shaped Rubin Observatory under a night sky. Text reads: “How it started vs. how it’s going: astronomy over the centuries.”

Black-and-white illustration of 19th-century astronomer Maria Mitchell looking through a brass telescope. Text reads: “How it started: eyes and early telescopes,” with Spanish translation.

Historic photographic plate of the Orion Nebula with handwritten notes. Text reads: “Capturing the sky on photographic plates,” with Spanish translation.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 4

Fireworks from the cosmos 🎆 Happy #FourthOfJuly! The colors in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Ocean of Stars are both scientific and beautiful, and tell us about the stars' properties. Hot, massive stars burn blue-white, while cool or old stars glow red. Dive in: skyviewer.app 🔭🧪

Dense star field with bright red, white, and blue, stars scattered across a dark cosmic background. Three particularly bright stars appear arranged in a flattened triangle at center - the left star is white, the top one is red, and the right one is blue.

Vast star field with hundreds, if not thousands, of bright stars of varying colors scattered across the dark expanse of space. The brightest dozen stars are generally red, white, or blue in color.

Bright blue star at center left in a dense field of thousands of smaller stars against a dark background. There are a few brighter objects also at lower right in yellow and red color, though not nearly as bright as the blue star.

A wide view of a dense field of countless pinpoint stars filling the frame like fine dust. Wispy, faint, grayish clouds of galactic cirrus drift across the scene, creating a subtle, patchy texture. Several brighter stars stand out, most notably a brilliant blue star on the upper right, along with a few other scattered bright blue and warm orange stars. Three vertical white boxes note the locations of the first three cutouts of this post. From left to right they are: 2, 1, 3.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 3

9. It’s a community-built survey 👥👥👥 10. The discoveries will be global 🌎🌍🌏 Learn even more about LSST at rubinobservatory.org/explore/how-... . . . 📷: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

Overhead group photo of hundreds in teal shirts in a lobby. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “9. It’s a community‑built survey. Thousands of scientists worldwide helped shape LSST, ensuring the data can be used to study the Solar System, distant galaxies, and everything in between.”

Illustrated world map with teal continents linking Rubin sites in Chile, the US, and Europe. Small photos of people at computers also appear around the world. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “10. The discoveries will be global. By making data and software widely available, Rubin’s LSST will power educational tools, citizen science projects, and discoveries by people far beyond Rubin itself.”

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 3

5. It will produce massive amounts of data 📈 6. It will generate millions of alerts every night 🚨 7. It will catalog billions of objects 🌟🌀☄️💥 8. It’s driven by software 💻 🔭🧪

Computer server racks lit with pink and blue LEDs. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “5. It will produce massive amounts of data. LSST will generate ~10 TB per night and ~30 PB of raw images over 10 years.

Illustrated night sky with Rubin on a ridge and many “DATA ALERT” tags across the Milky Way. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “6. It will generate millions of alerts every night. LSST will generate up to ~7 million alerts about detected changes in the night sky every night in a cosmically-scaled game of “spot the difference.”

Night view of Rubin Observatory dome under the Milky Way. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “7. It will catalog billions of objects. LSST will observe an estimated 17 billion stars, 20 billion galaxies, and 5 million asteroids across the southern sky.”

Control room with a person at a multi‑monitor workstation showing dashboards and an image of two spiral galaxies. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “8. It’s driven by software. Rubin selects next observations dynamically and automatically based on weather, the Moon’s position, survey progress, and more to maximize the science from LSST.”

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 3

1. It’s a 10-year survey 🗓️ 2. It will map the entire visible sky in incredible detail 🌌 3. It will create a time-lapse record of the Universe 💥 4. It will measure the Universe in six colors 🟣🔵🟢🟡🟠🔴 🔭🧪

Milky Way seen through the open dome of a large telescope at night. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads “1. It’s a 10‑year survey. LSST is a decade-long effort to address some big astronomy questions about dark matter and dark energy, the Solar System, the Milky Way, and the changing sky."

A busy cosmic scene with two prominent spiral galaxies, an interacting galaxy group, and lots of stars. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “2. It will map the entire visible sky in incredible detail. Rubin’s LSST will collect ~800 images of every region of the visible sky and more than 2 million images in total, creating the most complete map of the southern sky ever."

Star field with a crosshair on a faint, smudgy object. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “3. It will create a time‑lapse record of the Universe. Rubin’s LSST will repeatedly scan the southern sky every few nights, capturing motion, changes in brightness, and explosive events."

An orange reflective surface in the middle of circular mirrors. Bilingual text in English and Spanish reads: “4. It will measure the Universe in six colors. Ranging from ultraviolet to near-infrared, LSST’s color measurements will reveal properties like temperatures and distances that a single-color image can’t."

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 3

An observatory built to see it all. NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory was built to conduct the decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Here are ten things to know about LSST! 🔭🧪 🧵

Silhouette of Rubin Observatory under the Milky Way. A circular inset shows teal hexagonal tiles covering part of the Milky Way. Text reads “The Legacy Survey of Space and Time is NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory's mission to map the changing sky. Here are 10 things to know about it!” with a Swipe/Desliza arrow.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 2

What do we mean when we say NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will scan the sky? This visualization shows what a typical week of the 10-year survey looks like. The survey runs via a smart algorithm called a scheduler that dynamically determines where Rubin points next. 🔭🧪

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jul 2

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Ocean of Stars image is packed full, but where to start? Our new Skyviewer tour introduces you to some of the objects hiding in plain sight. Knowing where to look is half the fun! 🔭🧪 https://skyviewer.app/tours/ocean-get-oriented 📷: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

A wide, panoramic view of a dense field of countless tiny, pinpoint stars filling the entire frame like fine dust. Wispy, faint, grayish-brown clouds of galactic cirrus drift across the scene, creating a subtle, patchy texture over the dark background. Several brighter, prominent stars stand out across the field, most notably a large, brilliant blue star on the upper right surrounded by a soft glowing halo, along with a few other scattered bright blue and warm orange stars.

$A close-up view of a dense star field centered on a bright, face-on spiral galaxy with a glowing yellowish-white core and delicate, swirling arms. The surrounding dark sky is crowded with hundreds of pinpoint stars in shades of warm orange and bright white. A brilliant blue star with faint diffraction spikes shines prominently near the top center.$

$A close-up view of a star-filled field showcasing multiple distant galaxies and a striking foreground star. Two diffuse, oval-shaped yellowish galaxies sit near the center and upper right, while a tilted spiral galaxy is visible in the upper left. In the lower right corner, a brilliant orange star stands out with sharp, multi-pointed diffraction spikes, situated just below and right of a bright blue star.$

A close-up view featuring a cluster of four large, softly glowing yellowish-white elliptical and spiral galaxies in an arc across a dense field of stars. The background has a faint, misty appearance from wispy dust clouds, which are sprinkled with hundreds of tiny white and orange stars.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 30

This image is packed full with millions of stars in our own Milky Way 🌟 Millions more distant galaxies lie beyond them, each full of billions or trillions of stars. We even see the faint, ghostly clouds of interstellar dust known as "galactic cirrus" spread through our galaxy. 🔭🧪

A close-up view capturing several distinct galaxies amidst a crowded field of stars. On the far left, an elongated, bluish edge-on spiral galaxy stands vertically. Near the top center, a face-on spiral galaxy reveals its faint arms, while a larger, softly glowing, yellowish edge-on galaxy stretches vertically along the right side. Numerous tiny orange and white stars fill the space between them.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 30

This stunning view uses pre-survey data collected in 2025, looking toward the constellation Lupus close to the crowded plane of our Milky Way. 🔭🧪 At first glance, you'll see a glittering, colorful sea of stars. But zoom in, and you'll find MUCH more. 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/gallery/imag...

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 30

The start of a new survey of the Universe? That deserves a new view of the cosmos 🌌 Meet the Ocean of Stars, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's newest wide-field image. 🔭🧪 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/gallery/imag...

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 30

Every few nights for the next decade, Rubin will repeatedly scan the entire southern sky, creating the most complete time-lapse record of our Universe ever made. 🔭🧪☄️🌌 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/action-...

A circular sky map against a black background showing a dense field of stars and the glowing, dusty diagonal band of the Milky Way galaxy. Overlaid on the sky are hundreds of overlapping, colorful hexagonal tiles clustered across the central and outer regions of the view. The tiles form a sprawling, interconnected network color-coded in vibrant shades of green, yellow, orange, red, and teal. A few distinct, thick white circles are scattered within the colorful tile patterns, highlighting areas imaged much more frequently.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 30

The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here… On June 29, 2026, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory officially began the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST)! 🔭🧪☄️🌌 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/action-...

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 29

It's #NationalCameraDay, and we've got a great one, built by SLAC National Accelerator Lab 😎 Meet NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera 📸 It captures an area of sky 45 times the size of the full Moon — that huge view is what'll enable Rubin to capture the entire visible sky every few nights!🔭🧪

View from below of Rubin's enormous cylindrical LSST Camera with lens cap off. The camera is installed in the telescope between the secondary and combined primary/tertiary mirror, and multiple reflections of the instruments are visible.

Rubin's enormous cylindrical LSST Camera being lifted by blue straps from a yellow cart inside Rubin's spacious maintenance level.

Engineer in protective suit inspecting the enormous cylindrical LSST Camera inside a white clean room.

Group of engineers in cleanroom suits and blue gloves in front of the enormous LSST Camera with lens uncovered, viewed face-on.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 25

Yes, they really pushed a 350-ton telescope by hand 🤯 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s 8.4m telescope is so precisely balanced that staff can move it just by pushing. That balancing reduces strain on the drive motors and helps with smoothly tracking objects across the night sky 🌌 🔭🧪

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 24

Over ten years, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will repeatedly observe the entire southern sky, building the most complete map of the cosmos we've ever had.🔭🧪

Infographic of Rubin Observatory LSST totals: 10-year survey; >2M images in 6 filters; ~30 PB raw images; ~20B changes detected; cosmic inventory ~20B galaxies, ~17B stars, ~6M Solar System objects.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 24

How do you build the ultimate movie of the cosmos? 🎬🌌 Start with a decade of observations, millions of images, billions of stars and galaxies, and enough data to fill tens of thousands of laptops. 🔭🧪 Talk about a blockbuster 🤯

Low-angle view of an angular silver observatory dome with open vents under a clear, star-filled sky and the faint band of the Milky Way.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 23

Two observatories, two anniversaries, one nebula🌌🎉 One year after NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory First Look & 36 years of NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, we’re revisiting the Trifid Nebula as seen by both. Also known as M20, Trifid is a stellar nursery about 5,000 light-years away in the Milky Way. 🔭🧪

Three-panel zoom into the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae of the Milky Way’s core. Left: wide Rubin view of both the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae. Lagoon is a glowing pink lima-bean shape stood on end at right, while Trifid is a glowing pink-and-blue cotton ball at upper left. Middle: closer view of the rosy gas and dust of the Trifid Nebula. Right: Hubble’s close-up of a small section of the Trifid Nebula showing dark, backlit dust pillars with bright edges and stars scattered throughout.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@vrubinobs· Jun 21

Happy June Solstice! ☀️❄️ The north gets summer, but it's the winter solstice at NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory in Chile & our longest night. Extra dark hours mean more time to #CaptureTheCosmos! If you're in the north, enjoy the sun! For us, we'll be embracing the dark & looking up 🔭🧪