NOIRLab

BREAKING: The largest 3D map of the Universe is now complete 🌌 Last night @desisurvey, mounted on the Nicholas U/ Mayall 4 meter telescope at @KittPeakNatObs, finished its 5-year survey of the cosmos, mapping 47M+ galaxies and quasars. 🔗noirlab.edu/public/news/no…

NSF NOIRLab is looking for a Program Financial Analyst to help support the financial planning and operations behind some of the world’s leading astronomical facilities 🔭 Apply here: ow.ly/gwmm50YYtCw

Crepuscular rays are seen here at dusk over the Gemini South telescope, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab. 📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek

Our latest blog post gives you a glimpse into the pages of The Scope, NSF NOIRLab’s newest publication. 🤩 Read about what we do to protect the skies over the best astronomical sites! Blog 🔗 bit.ly/4u6thLs The Scope 🔗 bit.ly/4tiFOdv

Introducing The Scope: NSF NOIRLab’s NEWEST publication! The Scope illuminates the possibilities for early-career professionals looking to work in astronomy and shows the passion behind scientific research. Read here 🔗 bit.ly/4tiFOdv

While it may look like Gemini North is sending out the bat signal, this timelapse image shows the telescope’s Laser Guide Star in action. Gemini North is one half of the International @GeminiObs, operated by NSF NOIRLab. 📷: @GeminiObs/AURA/Joy Pollard

👀 This Image of the Week looks like it was taken through a piece of glass, but it was not! Those glowing vertical streaks in the top right are light pillars, captured by a CloudCam at the @Geminiobs North Telescope. 📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. Pollard

This 📸 of Pickering's Triangle was taken with the NSF Mayall 4-meter Telescope at @kittpeaknatobs. Astronomers estimate that the supernova that made this nebula happened ~5000–10,000 years ago. 📸 WIYN/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage) & H. Schweiker

Two telescopes, one mission to explore the sky. From Hawai‘i to Chile, the International @GeminiObs, operated by NSF NOIRLab, can see almost the entire sky. 📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Kwon O Chul (Gemini South, on left) P. Horálek (Gemini North)

"If you only knew the power of the dark side.” ⚔️🤖 A portion of DESI’s 3D map of the Universe shows galaxies tracing the cosmic web shaped by gravity and dark matter. #MayThe4th 📷: DESI/DOE/KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor Processing: M. Zamani

No, the sky didn’t suddenly get brighter, it’s a photographic trick! This stacked image from Cerro Pachón, Chile, shows hours of starlight captured in mesmerizing trails. 📸: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek

These high-speed gas ‘bullets’ inside the Orion Nebula were captured by Gemini North, one half of the International @GeminiObs, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. 📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA

Moons and Mirrors at Cerro Tololo 🌕 Three domes peek out over the mountain in this image from NSF @CerroTololo in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. On the far right is Las Tacas, the observer support station and workshop for CTIO. 📷: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand

@awoooouwuooooo @JAtanackov @desisurvey @KittPeakNatObs We also have a NOIRLab's point of access, which adds a public database access functionality as a complement to the NERSC access: datalab.noirlab.edu/data/desi

@awoooouwuooooo @JAtanackov @desisurvey @KittPeakNatObs Yes, DESI’s data release is free and available to access through the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC), a facility at Berkeley Lab where DESI processes and stores data.

BREAKING: The largest 3D map of the Universe is now complete 🌌 Last night @desisurvey, mounted on the Nicholas U/ Mayall 4 meter telescope at @KittPeakNatObs, finished its 5-year survey of the cosmos, mapping 47M+ galaxies and quasars. 🔗noirlab.edu/public/news/no…

From the archives: a few longtime residents of Cerro Tololo & Cerro Pachón in 🇨🇱 🦊🦊 While they are not part of the operations team, they are well adapted to the high-altitude & very comfortable around world-class astronomy. 📷@GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA and NOIRLab/AURA/NSF

11,000 new asteroids and the LSST hasn’t even begun. 😱 This year, NSF–DOE @VRubinObs will play the Universe’s largest spot-the-difference game! 👁️👁️Each night, Rubin will find ~7 million changes in the sky. 📷@VRubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Matsopoulos

🎶 SOAR in the sky with diamonds 🎶 Stars shine like diamonds through thin clouds above the SOAR Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. SOAR is among the foremost research facilities available to astronomers in the southern hemisphere. 📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek

Credit: 1. DOE/FNAL/DECam/R. Hahn/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA 2. M. Hunt/KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA 3. International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand

How much astronomy can you do from the ground? A whole lot! Here at NSF @noirlabastro, we’re celebrating ✨748 publications ✨ that used data from our ground-based observatories in the year 2025. 🥳 📖 Read about cutting-edge science at noirlab.edu

Let me take my Sombrero 🤠 About 30 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo, this striking galaxy spans ~50,000 light-years. The Sombrero Galaxy is one of the most iconic members of the Virgo Cluster. Credit: @cerrotololo/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA