NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) / X

NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory

3,127 posts

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

Joined August 2008

Pinned
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…
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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 🌊
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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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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
$A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At left is a large elliptical galaxy, smooth like a polished stone. At right lies a large spiral galaxy that is nearly a ring, with bright golden core. To its lower left is a smaller spiral with a barred core. At top and bottom, two bright stars shine brightly with multi-colored diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies are just smudges of various colors.$
$A field of galaxies of many shapes, sizes and colors, as well as the bright multi-colored points of stars. At top right is a large galaxy with two whirling spiral arms wrapping around like a hug. At bottom left, two smooth elliptical galaxies appear near each other, like champagne glasses in the midst of a cheers. A bright star above the pair has red, green, and blue diffraction spikes emanating out. In the background, hundreds of galaxies of many shapes are just smudges of various colors.$
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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…
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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!
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
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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.
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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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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
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
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