World's largest telescope unveils first images of distant galaxies in stunning detail: "Cosmic treasure chest"
More than two decades in the making, the giant U.S.-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. The first-look images captured star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies.
One of them is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops.
The Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula.
NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The image reveals these stellar nurseries within our Milky Way in unprecedented detail, with previously faint or invisible features now clearly visible.
Another image offers a sweeping view of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.
Spiral galaxies in the Virgo cluster are pictured among a larger cluster of galaxies.
NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The team also released a video dubbed the "cosmic treasure chest," which begins with a close-up of two galaxies before zooming out to reveal approximately 10 million more.
"The Rubin Observatory is an investment in our future, which will lay down a cornerstone of knowledge today on which our children will proudly build tomorrow," said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Equipped with an advanced 8.4-meter telescope and the largest digital camera ever built, the Rubin Observatory is supported by a powerful data-processing system.
Later this year, it will begin its flagship project, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Over the next decade, it will scan the night sky nightly, capturing even the subtlest visible changes with unmatched precision.
A galactic preview of the unprecedented visuals to come TODAY at 11 a.m. EDT from the NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory. Watch the livestream here: https://bit.ly/RubinFirstLook. 📹: National Science Foundation (NSF) - U.S. Department of Energy Vera C. Rubin Observatory #CaptureTheCosmos #RubinFirstLook Posted by National Science Foundation (NSF) on Sunday, June 22, 2025
Elana Urbach, a commissioning scientist on the project, told CBS News partner BBC News that one of the observatory's main goals is to "understand the history of the universe." That would mean having the ability to see galaxies or supernova explosions that occurred billions of years ago, according to BBC News.
"So, we really need very sharp images," Urbach said.
The design of the telescope allows it to capture a lot of light, and, in turn, observe objects that are very far away, Guillem Megias, an optics expert at the Rubin Observatory, told BBC News. Megias noted that, in astronomy, "really far away ... means they come from earlier times."
The observatory is named after pioneering American astronomer Vera C. Rubin, whose research provided the first conclusive evidence for the existence of dark matter — a mysterious substance that does not emit light but exerts gravitational influence on galaxies.
Dark energy refers to the equally mysterious and immensely powerful force believed to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. Together, dark matter and dark energy are thought to make up 95 percent of the cosmos, yet their true nature remains unknown.
The observatory, a joint initiative of the U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, has also been hailed as one of the most powerful tools ever built for tracking asteroids.
In just 10 hours of observations, the Rubin Observatory discovered 2,104 previously undetected asteroids in our solar system, including seven near-Earth objects — all of which pose no threat.
For comparison, all other ground- and space-based observatories combined discover about 20,000 new asteroids per year.
Rubin is also set to be the most effective observatory at spotting interstellar objects passing through the solar system.
More images from the observatory are expected to be released later Monday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Milky Way may be visible July 4 weekend in California, across US: How to see our galaxy
Looking for an alternative to fireworks? California stargazers have the opportunity to catch a cosmic light show this Independence Day when the Milky Way appears in the night sky. The center of our home galaxy, which is composed of billions of stars, is expected to be bright and vibrant throughout the month ahead, including Fourth of July weekend. Astronomers say this is perhaps the best time of year to glimpse the iconic band of hazy light known as the Milky Way as it arcs across the sky. The best part? You don't need any fancy telescopes or equipment to view it; just your eyes – and maybe a camera, if you're into astral photography. Milky Way photos: See images of our galaxy making itself visible around the globe Here's everything to know about our Milky Way, including how to see the stunning natural phenomenon. The Milky Way is our home galaxy with a disc of stars that spans more than 100,000 light-years. Because it appears as a rotating disc curving out from a dense central region, the Milky Way is known as a spiral galaxy. Our planet is located along one of the galaxy's spiral arms, about halfway from the center, according to NASA. The Milky Way sits in a cosmic neighborhood called the Local Group that includes more than 50 other galaxies. Those galaxies can be as small as a dwarf galaxy with up to only a few billion stars, or as large as Andromeda, our nearest large galactic neighbor. The Milky Way got its name because from our perspective on Earth, it appears as a faint, milky band of light stretching across the entire sky. While the Milky Way is generally always visible from Earth, certain times of year are better for stargazers to catch a glimpse of the band of billions of stars comprising our galaxy. "Milky Way season," when the galaxy's bright center becomes easier to see from Earth, typically runs from February to October, according to Milky Way photography website Capture the Atlas. But because visibility from Earth depends on the latitude, the further south you go, the longer the Milky Way season will last. For instance, in the Northern Hemisphere, which includes the entire continental United States, the best time to see the Milky Way is generally from March to September, according to Capture the Atlas. What you're looking at when the Milky Way is visible is the bright center of our galaxy, "seen edge-on from our position within the galaxy's disk," Preston Dyches, who hosts NASA's "What's Up," a monthly video series that describes what's happening in the night sky, wrote for NASA. The center of the Milky Way, which Dyches refers to as "the core," became visible in June, and is expected to shine every night through August as it gets higher in a darker sky. Typically, the sky is darkest between sunset and sunrise, or about midnight and 5 a.m., according to Capture the Atlas. You can check the sunrise and sunset times at your location using the website TimeAndDate. "This doesn't mean that as soon as the sun goes down, you can see the Milky Way," writes Dan Zafra, co-founder of Capture the Atlas. "Even if it's in the sky, the Milky Way will be barely visible during blue hour, so you'll have to wait at least until the end of the astronomical twilight to see all the details of the Milky Way." Stargazers can observe the Milky Way galaxy by looking for the Summer Triangle, a shape formed by "three bright stars" that spans across the Milky Way, according to science news website LiveScience. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Milky Way rises in the southeast, travels across the southern sky and sets in the southwest, according to Spectators will have the best luck on cloud-free nights and in locations away from city light pollution – including *ahem* fireworks. DarkSky International maintains a website that lists all designated dark sky communities around the world, including 159 locations in the U.S. There are several in California, including in Death Valley, Joshua Tree National Park, Borrego Springs, Anza Borrego Desert State Park and Julian. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Milky Way visible from California? How to see galaxy July 4 weekend
CBS News
11 hours ago
- CBS News
First close-up view of "cotton candy" nebula captured by world's largest cosmic telescope
The world's largest telescope captured a deep-space nebula — an interstellar cloud of gas and dust that can produce new stars — in stunning detail, providing the first close-up view to date of the cosmic phenomenon. Scientists recently unveiled images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory, a new station located in the Andes Mountains of Chile and funded by the United States, which houses a powerful telescope containing the biggest digital camera on the planet. Its precision allows the telescope to peer far into space, with galaxies tens of millions of light-years away from Earth among the subjects of the observatory's debut portraits of cosmos. Also pictured is the "cotton candy" nebula, which earned that nickname because of its bright pink and blue pattern. This annotated image offers a closer look at the region surrounding the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae. NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Officially, the swirling mass is called the Trifid Nebula, and it exists about 5,000 light-years from Earth, according to the Rubin Observatory. Nearby is the Lagoon Nebula, another colorful cloud, which is located about 4,000 light-years away and appears alongside Trifid in the observatory's latest images. Both are in the constellation Sagittarius, according to the Rubin Observatory. Zoomed-in views of the nebulae are seen in a video shared by the observatory, showcasing the Trifid and Lagoon formations at a scale never seen before. The composite image was created from more than 678 different exposures taken over a 7-hour period by the camera that powers the observatory's massive telescope. The Trifid nebula, nicknamed the "cotton candy" nebula because of its colorful swirls, is pictured in this screenshot from a video shared by the Vera Rubin Observatory. NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory The telescope's long-term mission is set to begin later this year, when it will perform nightly scans of the sky for the next decade in an effort to learn more about the early universe and some of its properties that still are not well-understood, like dark energy. Brian Stone, the chief of staff at the National Science Foundation who currently performs the duties of the foundation's director, said in a statement that the Rubin Observatory is expected to "capture more information about our Universe than all optical telescopes throughout history combined." "Through this remarkable scientific facility, we will explore many cosmic mysteries, including the dark matter and dark energy that permeate the Universe," his statement said.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
A Colossal Telescope in the Desert Just Captured Galaxies We've Never Seen Before
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: After more than a decade under construction, the Vera Rubin Observatory has released its first images, which contain millions of galaxies. These first images are only the brief, initial glimpse of the observatory's 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which will discover new objects in the night sky while also (hopefully) answering questions about dark matter and dark energy. As a ground-based telescope, the Vera Rubin Observatory will be a perfect companion to space-based telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope, as its sweeping view will completely scan the night sky every three days. On August 1, 2014, workers began construction of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) perched atop Cerro Pachón in Chile's Atacama Desert. Fast forward a decade later, and the LSST—now called the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, named for the American astronomer whose groundbreaking work provided evidence for the existence of dark matter—is finally ready to start doing some serious science. Its main mission will be the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (confusingly also abbreviated LSST), which will ceaselessly scan the night sky continuously for 10 years, noting every visible change along the way. Vera Rubin is particularly well-suited for this task—with a 28-foot-wide primary mirror, and 11-foot-wide secondary mirror, and the largest digital camera ever constructed, this terrestrial telescope can move its 300-ton bulk one full rotation in a half a minute at full speed, according to The New York Times. The amount of data Rubin will collect in the next year alone will be more than all other optical observatories combined. To put it mildly, it's an exciting time. To celebrate the beginning of its operation, the observatory has released the first images captured by the telescope. A combination of 678 different images, the photo above shows that brilliant Trifid nebula (top right) with the Lagoon nebula (bottom left), which is located more than 4,000 light-years from Earth. The lead image of this article (an in-depth look at the Virgo cluster) is only 2 percent of a full Rubin image, which would actually require 400 ultra high-definition TVs to display. Below is a labeled image of a swath of galaxies and stars—some of which we know, and many of which we've never seen before. 'These images vividly showcase the unprecedented power that Rubin will use to revolutionize astronomy and our understanding of the Universe,' astronomers Manda Banerji and Phil Wiseman from the University of Southampton wrote in The Conversation. 'Rubin is truly transformative, thanks to its unique combination of sensitivity, vast sky area coverage and exceptional image quality.' It's a big moment for ground-based astronomy, which has often been eclipsed by groundbreaking discoveries made by space-based telescopes like Hubble and JWST. While it's true that these floating telescopes offer a ton of benefits—chief among them being that they circumvent atmospheric interference and the increasing annoyance of satellite disruption (think Starlink)—the benefits of ground-based observatories far outweigh these visual costs. For one, these telescopes can be easily maintained and—crucially—upgraded with the latest and greatest technologies because... you know... they're on the ground. And without the need for payload restrictions, ground-based telescopes can be absolutely gargantuan (look no further than the adequately named Extremely Large Telescope, also under construction in the Atacama Desert). A quick comparison: JWST's Near Infrared Camera has a field of view of roughly 0.05 square degrees, whereas Vera Rubin has a full 9.6 square degrees. That means it can simply see way more sky than its space-based cousins. Rubin will also be able to produce incredibly high-definition photographs in just a few days, rather than the few years needed by other telescopes. At the end of its 10-year LSST mission, Rubin will provide invaluable data for investigating dark energy and dark matter, as well as information regarding some 20 billion galaxies. Rubin will also observe billions of objects on more than 800 separate occasions, which will create a kind of astronomical movie detailing the evolution of the night sky over time. Especially excitingly, it will capture asteroids as they move through the Solar System. The Observatory estimates that LSST will discover five million asteroids in the next few years alone—five times more than what humanity has discovered in the last two centuries. After decades of waiting, it's time for the science to finally commence. '[Vera Rubin] represents the culmination of about two decades of dedication, innovation, and collaboration by a global team,' Željko Ivezić, Director of Rubin Observatory Construction, said in a press statement. 'With construction now complete, we're turning our eyes fully to the sky—not just to take images, but to begin a whole new era of discovery.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
