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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory

@rubinobservatory.org

Get ready for a new era in astronomy and astrophysics with Rubin Observatory! Para español siga a Instagram: http://instagram.com/rubin_observatory

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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 2d ago

Choose your favorite NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory palette! 🎨✨ Rubin sees a wider range of colors than our eyes do, and when mapped to colors we do see: 🔴 Redder galaxies are farther. 🔵 Blue stars are hotter. 🌈 In the Trifid & Lagoon Nebulae, pink traces hydrogen while blue reveals hot stars. 🔭🧪

Dense starfield with faint clouds of interstellar dust, filled with white, orange, and blue stars. A few brighter blue and orange stars stand out. A horizontal palette bar at the bottom shows blue, gray, orange, brown, and cream swatches.A large pink-red nebula cloud with dark dust lanes at center-left and a smaller blue-pink nebula upper right in a dense, tan Milky Way star field. Bottom palette strip shows pink, slate blue, orange, tan, and brown swatches.Deep field packed with faint galaxies and stars. A few bright blue and orange foreground stars stand out among thousands of galaxies of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. A color palette strip at bottom shows black, dark blue, beige, tan, and gray swatches.Deep field packed with faint galaxies and stars. Bright blue and orange foreground stars show diffraction spikes. Large elliptical galaxies cluster at left and right amid thousand of other galaxies of varying shapes, sizes, and colors. A color palette strip runs along the bottom showing tan, light blue, bright blue, red, and black.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 3d ago

Welcome to Chile, SLAC LSST Camera team colleagues! They arrived from California last week for scheduled camera work during NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s planned engineering downtime. This engineering period will last about three weeks in total. 🔭🧪

A "selfie" from two workers wearing helmets and safety vests using Rubin's primary mirror. They're standing on a metal platform with metal structural beams reflected behind them. Five workers wearing safety gear inside Rubin's dome next to a curved concrete wall. A person in red safety gear and yellow helmet laying on a platform while working on Rubin's giant digital camera. Two people working on computers in an office with safety hard hats and high-visibility vests nearby.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 4d ago

Imagine looking up and watching a star suddenly lose 99% of its light. These stars are a rare type of variable star called an R Coronae Borealis. They suddenly puff out huge clouds of dust, blocking nearly all their light for months before returning to normal.🔭🧪

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 5d ago

In the sky above NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory shines the Pleiades (M45): an open star cluster with at least 1000 stars!✨ Its bright stars are too bright for Rubin's sensitive camera to capture for study, but Rubin will observe many other clusters & help scientists study how stars evolve. 🔭🧪

Large observatory with angular silver dome under a clear night sky filled with stars. A bright, blue star cluster sits above the observatory dome.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 6d ago

Happy September equinox from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! It's the first day of spring here in the south🌸 Equinox fun fact: day and night aren't exactly equal 👀 Atmospheric refraction and the way we define sunrise/sunset mean most places get slightly more than 12 hours of daylight! 🔭🧪

Observatory building with open, angular dome perched on a mountain ridge with a vibrant setting sun behind in a clear sky.Sunset backlighting tall wildflowers with red petals against a clear blue sky and white observatory building with open, angular dome in the background.Yellow wildflowers in sharp focus with a white observatory building with open angular dome and clear blue sky in the background.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · last wk.

¡Felices Fiestas Patrias!🇨🇱🎉 From Cerro Pachón, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory wishes our colleagues, neighbors, & the entire Chilean community a joyful celebration. 🔭🧪 Chile’s national holidays are celebrated as Fiestas Patrias: a time for food, dancing, loved ones, & Chilean pride🇨🇱

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 2w ago

Meet LEDA 1205871 and LEDA 29228, two galaxies in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's view of COSMOS. 🔭🧪 They're “shell” galaxies, created when a larger galaxy absorbs a smaller one. These cosmic ripples preserve clues to past mergers, and Rubin’s sensitivity will help uncover many more 🌌

Deep-space field filled with distant galaxies and stars. Two large golden elliptical galaxies at upper left-center and lower center show faint shell structures surrounding them. The black background is speckled with red, blue, and white points of light.A dense field of countless pinpoint stars fills the frame against the deep black of space, creating a fine, grainy texture like fine sand spread across a smooth table. Dozens of particularly bright stars in blue, yellow, and orange glitter across the scene like jewels. A white box at lower left calls attention to two particular galaxies.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 2w ago

Just a piece of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Ocean of Stars 🌊✨ This galaxy is called MCG-06-33-009, and the blue knots in its spiral arms show where hot, young stars are forming. 🔭🧪 Rubin will capture billions of galaxies and enable scientists to study how galaxies grow and change 🌀

Golden spiral galaxy with blueish spiral arms in a dense star field. Numerous orange and blue stars dot the dark sky, with a bright bluish star left of center and faint background galaxies scattered throughout. A wide, panoramic view of a dense field of pinpoint stars filling the entire frame like fine dust. A white square notes a specific galaxy near upper center. Wispy, grayish-brown clouds of galactic cirrus drift across the scene, creating a subtle, patchy texture over the dark background. Several brighter stars stand out, 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.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 3w ago

Just a normal camera, if “normal” means: 🔭 A 3.2-billion-pixel sensor 🌌 A field of view that could fit ~45 full Moons ⏱️ A new 8-gigabyte image every ~40 seconds NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's LSST Camera is the largest ever built (thanks SLAC!). Ok, maybe that's not normal. 🔭🧪

Technician in cleanroom suit inspecting a large, cylindrical camera barrel inside a clean room.Close-up of a Romanesco broccoli head showing its intricate fractal pattern in black and white. The mosaic grid of LSST Camera's ~200 individual CCDs is visible as vertical and horizontal black lines.Workers in safety gear guide the car-sized LSST Camera suspended by green straps inside Rubin's large maintenance hall.Close-up view of the huge LSST Camera installed at the center of Rubin's 8.4-meter telescope, with metal scaffolding on either side.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 3w ago

Severe Storm Impacting NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Operations in Chile- September 4 Update Following the severe storm that affected Chile’s Coquimbo Region in July, restoration & maintenance work continues at AURA/NSF NOIRLab’s observatory sites, which includes Rubin Observatory. 🧪🔭

Two workers in safety gear doing maintenance work on top of Rubin's silver dome, overlooking snowy mountain peaks under a cloudy sky. Snow patches around a brown dirt road leading to the Cerro Pachón lodging buildings under a clear blue sky.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 3w ago

Clouds during the day☁️, clear at night🌌 That's a common pattern at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. Daytime heating lifts cool, moist marine air into clouds. After sunset, the air re-settles into the valleys, leaving clear skies for observing! 🔭🧪 🎥 NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 4w ago

🌟 Calling educators in Latin America who teach astronomy: This opportunity is for you! Applications for Summer Stars LATAM 2026 are now open! 🔭🧪 📍 La Serena, Chile | Cerro Pachón | Cerro Tololo 📅 Dec. 14–18, 2026 ⏰ Applications open through Sep. 21 ls.st/2026

Group of people in front of a large white observatory building under a clear blue sky.Three people at a conference table with laptops, engaged in discussion while a woman in a blue shirt stands behind and leans in.Group of people posing inside the dome of a large observatory with a big telescope behind them.Group of people wearing yellow hard hats and reflective vests posing for a group photo inside a room with concrete walls.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 2mo ago

Somewhere in this image of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is a viscacha... Viscachas are rabbit-like rodents related to chinchillas. They're well-camouflaged for the landscape of the Chilean mountains! #FaunaFriday 🔭🧪 📷: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/I. Sullivan (Hint… ↙️ 👀)

Boot-shaped observatory perched in the distance atop a rugged mountain ridge bathed in warm golden sunset light. A viscacha is camouflaged at lower left.
NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 2mo ago

Most asteroids pose no threat, but tracking the ones that could starts with knowing they exist. 🔭🧪 Over the next decade, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will reveal millions more, including ~90k near-Earth objects — a big step toward identifying threats☄️ 🎥: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R. Proctor

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory@rubinobservatory.org · 2mo ago

Trading summer break for big-data astronomy! 🍎✨ 16 educators joined us in Tucson for our 3rd annual Summer Stars workshop, exploring NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory classroom tools, touring Kitt Peak, & learning how to bring real Rubin data to the next generation! 🌌🔭🧪 📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Group of visitors posing in front of the colorful mosaic wall at Kitt Peak National Observatory Visitor Center.Group of people listening to a guide inside the dome of Kitt Peak's 3.5-meter WIYN telescope.Group of people posing in front of the large donut-shaped cement mirror blank for Kitt Peak's 4-meter telescope, which is painted with a black and blue mural, with trees and cloudy sky behind them.Group of adults at a collaborative workshop around a table with laptops, notebooks, and water bottles in a bright room.