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NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
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NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
@VRubinObs
Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos in exquisite detail starting in 2026 🌌 Funded by @NSF and @DOEScience. Para español: instagram.com/rubin_observat…
Cerro Pachon, Chile
rubinobservatory.org
Joined August 2008
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Feb 25
    The largest spot-the-difference effort EVER has begun!🚨 On the night of Feb 24, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory officially released its first ~800,000 public alerts of detected changes in the night sky!🔍 A new era of discovery is here✨ 🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/first-ale…
    Illustrated graphic with the boot-shaped Rubin Observatory atop its site on Cerro Pachón beneath a sparkling night sky and the glowing band of the Milky Way stretching from lower left to upper right. Sprinkled throughout are many "Data alert!" popups, labeled with icons that represent supernovae, asteroids, hungry black holes, and more.
    A 3-by-4 grid of grayscale astronomical images zoomed in on single objects. From left to right, the columns are labeled Template, New image, and difference. From top to bottom, the rows are labeled supernova, variable star, active galactic nucleus, and solar system object.
    80K
  • user avatar
    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jun 17, 2025
    🚨THIS IS NOT A DRILL🚨We are 6 days away from the world's First Look at images from Rubin! #RubinFirstLook @NSF-@doescience Rubin Observatory will take a new 3200-megapixel image every ~40s, yielding ~20 terabytes of data every night! The deluge of data is about to begin 🌊
    Rubin Observatory's car-sized digital camera mounted on the telescope. Seen at an angle face-on, the camera is a long black tube cutting vertically through the top two-thirds of the image. Its giant clear glass lens is visible toward the top. To the left and right of the camera, scaffolding for staff access is set up. The background is an array of black and teal steel, both part of the telescope and beyond as part of the dome.
    110K
  • user avatar
    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jun 23, 2025
    Introducing...your sneak peek at the cosmos captured by @NSF–@doescience Vera C. Rubin Observatory! Can you guess what regions of sky they are? This is just a peek...join us at 11am US EDT for your full First Look at how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos! ls.st/rubin-first-lo…
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    A cosmic tapestry of glowing tan and pink gas clouds with dark dust lanes. In the upper right, the Trifid Nebula resembles a small flower in space. Its soft, pinkish gas petals are surrounded by blue gas, and streaked with dark, finger-like veins of dust that divide it into three parts. It radiates a gentle, misty glow, diffuse and soft like the warmth of breath on a cold hand. To the lower left, the much larger Lagoon Nebula stretches wide like a churning sea of magenta gas, with bright blue, knotted clumps sprinkled throughout where new stars are born. Both nebulae are embedded in a soft tan backdrop of gas that is brighter on the left than on the right, etched with dark tendrils of dust and sprinkled with the pinpricks of millions of stars.
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jun 24, 2025
    Yesterday we released our cosmic treasure chest...and now it's yours to explore! With ~10 million galaxies in the image, there's plenty to find. Pan, zoom, and hunt for gems using Skyviewer - and be sure to share your favorites with us! ➡️ skyviewer.app/explorer
    A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At left is a large elliptical galaxy, smooth like a polished stone. At right lies a large spiral galaxy that is nearly a ring, with bright golden core. To its lower left is a smaller spiral with a barred core. At top and bottom, two bright stars shine brightly with multi-colored diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies are just smudges of various colors.
    A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top left is a large galaxy that is smooth like a stone, with wisps like cotton candy spiral from left and right. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.
    A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At bottom left is an elegant two-armed galaxy, with arms extended like a dancer viewed from above. The bright points of three stars form a triangle at top center. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors against the black of space.
    A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top right is a large galaxy with two whirling spiral arms wrapping around like a hug. At bottom left, two smooth elliptical galaxies appear near each other, like champagne glasses in the midst of a cheers. A bright star above the pair has red, green, and blue diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors.
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jul 30, 2025
    ☄️ Say hello to Comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third interstellar object ever seen in our Solar System! @NSF–@doescience Rubin Observatory didn’t discover the comet, but even during testing, it caught a glimpse. Imagine what we'll find once science operations begin later this year!
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jun 23, 2025
    A new view of two old friends 🤩 Feast your eyes on @NSF–@doescience Rubin's view of the Trifid & Lagoon Nebulae! This image shows what makes Rubin unique: its combination of wide field of view & speed that allows it to take lots of big images quickly. rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-fir…
    A cosmic tapestry of glowing tan and pink gas clouds with dark dust lanes. In the upper right, the Trifid Nebula resembles a small flower in space. Its soft, pinkish gas petals are surrounded by blue gas, and streaked with dark, finger-like veins of dust that divide it into three parts. It radiates a gentle, misty glow, diffuse and soft like the warmth of breath on a cold hand. To the lower left, the much larger Lagoon Nebula stretches wide like a churning sea of magenta gas, with bright blue, knotted clumps sprinkled throughout where new stars are born. Both nebulae are embedded in a soft tan backdrop of gas that is brighter on the left than on the right, etched with dark tendrils of dust and sprinkled with the pinpricks of millions of stars.
    34K
  • user avatar
    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Apr 1, 2022
    We're so excited to announce that Rubin Observatory has been renamed to Rubin Space Telescope, set to join @NASAWebb in orbit at Earth's L2 point next year! We saw how much fun they were having out there and just had to join in!
    a rocket flying through the sky with a photoshopped Rubin Observatory pasted on top
  • user avatar
    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Oct 7, 2024
    We have a telescope!🤩 Last week, summit staff successfully installed Rubin Observatory's combined primary/tertiary mirror. With all three mirrors & the commissioning camera in place, we officially—for the first time in 15 years of construction—have a complete telescope!🥳 🧵
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jul 23, 2025
    Happy birthday, Vera Rubin! 🥳✨ What better way to celebrate than with @NSF–@doescience Rubin Observatory's view of galaxies SHE studied? NGC 4343, 4526, 4535, and 4378 are just a few gems from our Cosmic Treasure Chest. Explore them and more at skyviewer.app
    Edge-on spiral galaxy angled pointing lower left to upper right. It's glowing with a bright core that's cut with the dark veins of dust clouds. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.
    A smooth, cigar-shaped galaxy angled pointing lower left to upper right glowing with a bright core. Two bright stars beam just to the upper left and lower right of the galaxy. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.
    A face-on spiral with a bright core and sweeping arms knotted with blue clusters of star-forming regions. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.
    A face-on spiral with a bright core and a single thin arm wrapping all the way around, almost looking like a ring. Two bright blue stars beam above and to the lower left of the galaxy, with a third yellow star to the lower right. The background is peppered with a myriad of colorful stars and distant galaxies in black space.
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jun 23, 2025
    Meet your new cosmic neighbors ☄️ Introducing a swarm of over 2100 asteroids discovered by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! Rubin discovered these asteroids in about 10.5 hours across 7 nights. They've never been seen by humanity before...until now. youtu.be/DTuq-vBsDJE
    120K
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Oct 5, 2023
    Telescope be nimble, telescope be quick...telescope jump over a candlestick? Ok, no jumping. But nimble and quick? Definitely. This real-time video shows how fast our 200+ ton telescope can move, a crucial part of how Rubin will scan the entire Southern sky every few nights.
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  • user avatar
    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Mar 2, 2021
    Some serious heavy lifting took place at @VRubinObs today: The top-end assembly for the telescope was lowered through the observatory dome by a giant, 500-ton capacity crane! #NSFScience
    Close-up image of the top-end assembly being lowered through the dome.
    Drone view image of the top-end assembly being lowered into the dome.
  • user avatar
    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Oct 14, 2022
    *Wink* 😉 Ever wondered what opening and closing the shutter on the world's largest digital camera looks like? Wonder no more! The camera team @SLAClab tested the camera's shutter while the lens cap was off last month, giving this great view! 📹: V. Riot
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    NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory
    @VRubinObs
    Jun 21, 2025
    ‼️We're just TWO DAYS from Rubin's first images! #RubinFirstLook‼️ So let's talk images📷 @NSF-@doescience Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera — the largest digital camera ever built — produces 3200-megapixel images... But what does that mean, exactly? 🤨 📷: J. Orrell/SLAC Lab
    A view looking into the LSST Camera's huge opening. The camera opening is a large black donut shape, with reflections of ceiling light revealing the presence of glass lenses. In the center of the opening is the camera's focal plane detector, which is made of 189 square CCD chips arranged in a roughly square shape. The camera is suspended on a white metal frame with white handrails. The completely white room gives the image an overall sterile feel.
    12K

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