Press Releases: Vera C. Rubin Observatory

11 October 2024: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory celebrated a landmark moment in astronomy and astrophysics with the dedication of the Simonyi Survey Telescope on 4 October 2024. With the Simonyi family as guests of honor, Rubin Observatory recognized the pivotal role of Charles and Lisa Simonyi’s philanthropy in advancing construction of the Observatory and supporting research that will soon transform our understanding of the Universe.

12 September 2024: Photons, neutrinos, cosmic rays and gravitational waves all carry information about the Universe. Multi-messenger astronomy brings together these four signals to investigate astronomical events from multiple cosmic perspectives. With its sensitive camera and suite of filters, NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will increase the population of known multi-messenger sources by obtaining crucial color information and localizing events for follow-up observations by other telescopes.

1 August 2024: Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s 3.5-meter secondary mirror has been installed on the Simonyi Survey Telescope on Cerro Pachón in Chile. The glass mirror — made by Corning Advanced Optics and polished by L3Harris Technologies — is the first permanent component of the telescope’s state-of-the-art, wide-field optical system to be installed and will soon contribute to a better understanding of our Universe.

15 July 2024: Too big to be planets but too small to be stars, distant brown dwarfs are a key ingredient for understanding the history of the Milky Way. Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time will detect a population of ancient brown dwarfs about 20 times bigger than we’ve previously seen, revealing the processes that shaped our home galaxy.

22 May 2024: The largest camera ever built for astrophysics has completed the long journey from SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California to the summit of Cerro Pachón in Chile, where it will soon help unlock the mysteries of the Universe.

30 April 2024: With its shiny, new silver coating, Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror is one step closer to revolutionizing the way astronomers capture and study the Universe. Both mirrors will soon be installed on the Simonyi Survey Telescope where they will collect the light of distant celestial objects and events during the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), beginning in 2025.

15 April 2024: Glittering threads of stars around the Milky Way may hold answers to one of our biggest questions about the Universe: what is dark matter? With images taken through six different color filters mounted to the largest camera ever built for astronomy and astrophysics, Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time will reveal never-before-seen stellar streams around the Milky Way — and the telltale effects of their interactions with dark matter.

3 April 2024: The world’s largest digital camera for astronomy is complete. Once in place on a telescope in Chile, the LSST Camera will gather an unprecedented amount of data about our Universe, yielding new insights into everything from dark energy to asteroids.

7 February 2024: Vera C. Rubin Observatory will help scientists identify intriguing targets to prioritize for future space missions by detecting millions of new Solar System objects, and by revealing — in more detail than we’ve ever seen — the broader context in which these objects exist. Additionally, Rubin may alert scientists to the existence of objects like asteroids, comets, or visiting interstellar objects in time to determine their trajectories and prepare space missions to study them.

29 January 2024: Journey Through the Universe — a partnership between the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, and the Hawaiʻi Department of Education Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area — celebrates 20 years of cosmic exploration with Hawai‘i students and the community. This year’s exciting program includes classroom presentations, career panels, public events and more!

14 December 2023: Big Astronomy: People, Places, Discoveries is an award-winning bilingual planetarium show that takes viewers beyond the dome to behind the scenes of some of Chile’s world-class observatories. Meet the people who work with state-of-the-art telescopes in this feature film that is now free and available online for direct download.

4 December 2023: Intracluster light, the collective glow of innumerable stars stripped from their home galaxies and left to wander vast intergalactic space, is incredibly faint and difficult to detect. Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time will be the first astronomical survey to provide scientists with the data they need to detect intracluster light in thousands of galaxy clusters, unlocking clues to the evolutionary history of the Universe on large scales.

11 October 2023: Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time will help scientists map the large-scale structure of the Universe with finer precision than ever before. With Rubin’s wide field of view and high resolution, the subtle distortions of galaxy shapes caused by dark matter will be detectable, allowing scientists to map dark matter and explore its cosmic tug of war with dark energy.

10 August 2023: Many as-yet-undiscovered interstellar objects exist throughout our Milky Way Galaxy: comets and asteroids that have been ejected from their home star systems. Some of these objects pass through our Solar System, bringing valuable information about how planetary systems form and evolve. Currently, only two such interstellar visitors have been discovered: 1I/ʻOumuamua and comet 2I/Borisov. Rubin’s upcoming Legacy Survey of Space and Time will show us many more.

9 June 2023: The One Sky Project, led by the ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center and sponsored by the Thirty Meter Telescope, has produced a series of seven short fulldome films and a compiled full-length feature film focusing on cultural and Indigenous astronomy. This international collaboration seeks to build cross-cultural connections and increase understanding of different indigenous perspectives while demonstrating how our one sky connects us all. The films, which received accolades in 2022 and 2023, are now free to download to planetariums around the world.

7 June 2023: Gemini North, part of the International Gemini Observatory operated by NSF’s NOIRLab, is back observing the night sky following the repair and refurbishment of its primary mirror. The telescope’s debut observation captured the supernova dubbed SN 2023ixf, which was discovered on 19 May by Japanese astronomer Koichi Itagaki. This dazzling point of light, the closest supernova seen in the past five years, is located along one of the spiral arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy (Messier 101).

1 June 2023: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory Education and Public Outreach program launches today, marking the first time that a major next-generation astronomy research facility has integrated a comprehensive and fully NSF-funded outreach program into its construction phase. When it begins science operations in late 2024, Rubin will produce a complete survey of the southern sky every few nights to study dark matter, dark energy, and the changing Universe. Rubin will share this adventure with the public.

8 May 2023: Vera C. Rubin Observatory has passed a major construction milestone: the telescope structure is ready to be outfitted with a full-size replica of its 8.4-meter mirror and stand-ins for its 3200-megapixel LSST Camera and other critical optical components. This major milestone means that Rubin Observatory is on track to help probe the mysteries of dark matter, study the fundamental nature of dark energy, document the dynamic Universe, and explore other grand challenges of cosmology.

16 February 2023: Journey Through the Universe — a partnership among NSF’s NOIRLab/Gemini, the Hawaiʻi Department of Education Hilo-Waiākea Complex Area, and the TMT International Observatory — returns to its in-person format to share with Hawai‘i students the wonders of the Universe and awareness of careers in science and technology. This year’s exciting program includes classroom presentations, career panels, a teacher workshop and more!

19 January 2023: A startling analysis from Globe at Night — a citizen science program run by NSF’s NOIRLab — concludes that stars are disappearing from human sight at an astonishing rate. The study finds that, to human eyes, artificial lighting has dulled the night sky more rapidly than indicated by satellite measurements. The study published in the journal Science showcases the unique contributions that citizen scientists can make in essential fields of research.