NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory

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…

Rubin is built to map billions of galaxies and stars over the next decade, repeatedly scanning the entire sky to build a decade-long time-lapse movie of the cosmos. 🌌 The next huge era for astronomy and astrophysics is about to begin!

Notice something hidden here? 👤 In this sunset photo of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, a tiny person stands to the right of Rubin's huge summit facility. Talk about a sense of scale!

📷: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will find millions of these cosmic “feeding frenzies” and track how they change over time, enabling scientists to better understand how black holes and galaxies evolve together. 🕳️🌀 Read more at rubinobservatory.org/explore/rubin-…

What happens when a black hole gets hungry? Like, really hungry? 😱 At the center of most large galaxies sits a supermassive black hole. Most of the time they’re quiet…but sometimes they start feeding on nearby gas and dust.

Grab your camera! 📸 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory looks good from every angle, and YOU can experience it up close! Free public tours to Rubin through September 2026 are now open — reserve your spot at ls.st/visits. We hope to see you soon!

Want to help bring people to one of the most advanced observatories on Earth? 🌌 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is hiring a Chile Visits Coordinator! Coordinate logistics, support visits, and connect guests with cutting-edge science in Chile. Apply by May 21: bit.ly/4n5FVr4

📷: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/H. Stockebrand

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's decade-long survey will map this hidden Universe. Using precise measurements of billions of galaxies, scientists can use what they CAN see in order to reveal the traces of the dark matter they can't. No Sith or lightsabers required!

May the 4th be with you...and welcome to the dark side 🌌 About 85% of the universe’s matter is dark matter. Just like the Force, we can’t see it. It doesn’t emit light, but its gravity has shaped the structures we see across the Universe since the Big Bang.

Did you know April is #CitizenScienceMonth? As the month wraps up, get ready for upcoming NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory citizen science opportunities! Sign up at zooniverse.org/rubin to join the Rubin community on @the_Zooniverse and be first in line when new projects launch 😎

Not all galaxies wander space alone...and sometimes they're too close for comfort 😬 Galaxies can interact, collide, and merge. By studying snapshots of these interactions, scientists can gain insight into how galaxies evolve over billions of years⏳

Rubin’s telescope moves fast, moving to its next spot and ready for a new image in a few seconds 🤯 So the dome anticipates, moving early based on the next exposure in Rubin's automated scheduler to arrive on time. With new images every ~40 seconds, every second counts!

Our dome isn’t just for the aesthetic (though it does look iconic on Cerro Pachón 👀). NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's dome is basically a giant, high-tech shield for the telescope and camera inside, protecting them from wind, temperature swings, and dust.

With SkySynth, our images are ear-resistable 👂✨ SkySynth transforms the Virgo Cluster into a sparkling symphony of science! 🧪 Instead of conveying data visually, like a picture, a sonification like SkySynth translates data into sound. skyviewer.app/skysynth

@NOIRLabAstro 📷: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/H. Stockebrand

@NOIRLabAstro Soon, Rubin will begin the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a 10-year time-lapse of the southern sky. By measuring ~17B stars, Rubin will track how our galaxy formed and evolved, and help us piece together the history of galaxies across the Universe. rubinobservatory.org/gallery/collec…

What do you notice first? 👀 The Milky Way arcs overhead, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory stands below, and the reds and greens of airglow, well...glow. This @NOIRLabAstro #ImageOfTheWeek has it all!

There's only one Earth 💙💚 Astronomers and astrophysicists are always looking up, trying to understand our place in the cosmos. It's a reminder of how special Earth really is! On this #EarthDay, look up with us and celebrate the beautiful planet we call home 🌎🌍🌏