The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a groundbreaking facility named after trailblazing astronomer Vera Rubin, has released its first test images, capturing the light from millions of distant stars and galaxies on an unprecedented scale. The observatory’s largest camera ever built has taken over 10 hours of observations, revealing thousands of previously unseen asteroids.
Among the newly discovered asteroids are seven near-Earth asteroids that pose no risk to our planet. The telescope is expected to uncover millions of space rocks within its first two years, far surpassing the 20,000 asteroids spotted annually by ground- and space-based telescopes.
The observatory’s mirror design, sensitive camera, and telescope speed make it the most effective way to spot tiny, faint objects like asteroids. It will also constantly take thousands of images every night, cataloging changes in brightness to reveal otherwise hidden space rocks that could be on a collision course with our planet.
The first set of images includes a video made from over 1,100 images capturing two galaxies and ten million more galaxies spotted by the camera’s wide view. The observatory team also released a mosaic of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae, showcasing faint and previously invisible details in these star-forming regions.
The facility, located in Chile, is nearly complete after 20 years of work and will achieve “first light” on July 4. Its main objective is the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a time-lapse compilation of whizzing asteroids, comets, exploding stars, and distant galaxies over 10 years.
The observatory’s capabilities will enable it to be a “discovery machine,” identifying interesting areas for other telescopes and detecting previously unknown celestial objects. It is expected to help scientists learn about dark matter and dark energy, two enigmatic substances that shape the cosmos.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/23/science/vera-rubin-observatory-first-images