A Cosmic Overpass

Above the peaks of Cerro Pachón lies a bridge made of stars, intangible yet visible to the naked eye. This beautiful arch, composed of the Milky Way with its network of nebulae and interstellar clouds, seemingly connects the Rubin Auxiliary Telescope (AuxTel) (left) with the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory (right), a Program of NSF’s NOIRLab. Some spectacles of the Universe dot around the Milky Way, from the Magellanic Clouds (center bottom) to the crimson emission nebulae (upper left and bottom right) to the green and red airglow on the horizon. Although it is possible to catch a glimpse of these treasures elsewhere on Earth, only in remote locations such as the highly elevated Andes can one truly bask in all their splendor.

Rubin Observatory is a joint initiative of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Energy (DOE). Once completed, Rubin will be operated jointly by NSF’s NOIRLab and DOE's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

This photo was taken as part of the recent NOIRLab 2022 Photo Expedition to all the NOIRLab sites.