Rubin Observatory

Get ready for a new era in astronomy and astrophysics with Rubin Observatory! #astronomy #engineering #Astrodon #discovery

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Last Notes

2025-04-15 22:00:54

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With these all-purpose images, scientists can study many different things using the same data set.
Over the course of its decade-long survey, Rubin will capture every part of the Southern sky nearly a thousand times, in more detail than has been possible before — creating the greatest cosmic movie ever made.
More: https://rubinobservatory.org/slideshows/whats-a-survey-telescope
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2025-04-15 22:00:53

Studying billions of objects at once is so fetch! ...okay, we'll stop trying to make fetch happen.
The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will image billions of stars and galaxies across the entire Southern sky, night after night, because it's what scientists call a “survey telescope”—but what does that mean?
Survey telescopes map the cosmos using all-purpose images, rather than targeted observations — like choosing a wide-angle lens for your camera instead of a telephoto lens.
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2025-04-15 22:00:53

2025-04-14 18:30:17

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Once online later this year, Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos for a decade and generate the greatest cosmic movie ever made. It will be jointly operated by the U.S. National Science Foundation NOIRLab and the U.S. Department of Energy's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

2025-04-14 18:30:16

On this day, ten years ago...
...we formally kicked off construction of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory with a ceremonial First Stone event!
Thanks to over a decade of hard work by thousands of people, Rubin is just months away from unveiling first images to the world!
https://youtu.be/BLXji43RAUQ

2025-04-11 18:45:07

Now that the world's largest digital camera is installed, what work remains before Rubin goes live?
For starters, hooking up and testing all the camera's connections to the telescope, before cooling it down to -100 C (-148 F) 🥶
Read all the details at https://rubinobservatory.org/news/preparing-for-cosmic-movie?utm_content=buffer2832e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer!
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2025-03-06 17:00:58

Scrub a dub 🫧 ...except no scrubbing the delicate observatory optics!
We don't use lens cleaner to clean the giant camera lenses. Instead, summit staff use a high-speed stream of carbon dioxide "snow" to push debris off the glass surface.
You might recognize this as the same process our team uses to clean the telescope's mirrors as well! This method effectively removes debris without leaving residue or water marks.
Stay tuned for the installation of the largest digital camera ever built!👀📷
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2025-03-01 15:30:17

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So, scientists devised a new observatory design:
🔭 a compact telescope with a large two-in-one mirror, to maximize collected light AND speed
📷 the largest, most sensitive camera ever built
💻 a sophisticated data system to handle the expected deluge
Rubin Observatory is the result of decades of planning by thousands of people!
Once online later this year, Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos over the next decade, generating the greatest cosmic movie ever made.
Learn more: https://rubinobservatory.org/about

2025-03-01 15:30:16

What makes Rubin different from other observatories?
In the 1990s, scientists began designing an ambitious survey that would cover the entire visible sky repeatedly and quickly. It would unlock the potential for discovery across astronomy and astrophysics.
The problem? A capable telescope didn't exist.
Such a telescope would have some specific requirements:
👀 A wide, yet detailed, field of view
🔭 Lots of light-collecting power
💨 The ability to quickly point at a new spot in the sky
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2025-02-28 20:49:00

You spin us right round, right round 🎶
Our summit team recently tested the function that the camera rotator is named for and all went well!
The remaining steps to complete before we install the largest camera in the world on our telescope are rapidly shrinking...stay tuned! 👀
**More details: The "camera rotator" is the piece that connects to both our giant, car-sized camera and the telescope, effectively serving as a mechanical adaptor that connects the two complex systems together.
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2025-01-10 22:56:03

We can't wait to see everyone at #AAS245!
Next week is the 245th meeting of the American Astronomical Society — the largest gathering of astronomers in the US. We're gearing up for some exciting talks and sessions that'll preview the incredible science coming later this year once Rubin comes online!
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2025-01-06 22:13:17

👋 Time for a reintroduction!
NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is nearing the end of construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, getting ready for its quest to #CaptureTheCosmos with first light expected later this year. It’s named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who provided the first convincing evidence for the existence of dark matter.
Rubin will generate an ultra-high-resolution, ultra-high-definition time-lapse of our Universe — the decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).
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2025-01-06 22:13:17

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It is the only observatory in the world that is capable of this feat!
With its immense data set, Rubin will open doors to discoveries about:
✨ Dark matter & dark energy
☄️ Objects in our Solar System
🌌 Our home galaxy, the Milky Way
🌟 The changing sky, including supernovae and pulsating stars
❓Answers to questions we have yet to imagine
Learn more about Rubin Observatory at https://rubinobservatory.org/about

2025-01-06 14:00:21

🚨Calling astronomy graduate students!
Want to build your data science skills while preparing for the deluge of Rubin data?
The LSST Discovery Alliance is accepting applications for the 2025 Data Science Fellowship Program!
Learn more & apply by Jan. 22: https://lsstdiscoveryalliance.org/programs/data-science-fellowship/
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2025-01-01 16:00:20

New year, fresh starts. And Rubin will start something truly epic in 2025 🌌
It's officially the year Rubin will finish construction! This is the year we will begin our epic decade-long quest to #CaptureTheCosmos 🎥
Join us as we peel back the curtain and bring you behind the scenes to see what it takes to produce the greatest ultra-high resolution, ultra-high definition cosmic movie ever made! 😎
📷: H. Stockebrand
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2024-12-27 15:00:25

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We're grateful for the many people working to make this amazing observatory a reality ✨
2025 is the final year of construction for Rubin — by this time next year, we'll be in the midst of our quest to #CaptureTheCosmos 🤩
@noirlabastro @slaclab @auradc @nsfgov @doescience
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2024-12-27 15:00:24

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🤳 The team took a group selfie using the engineering camera — the first time light went through the complete telescope and hit a camera detector!
🔭 The team did important testing and troubleshooting with the engineering camera
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2024-12-27 15:00:23

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🛻 Our 8.4-meter mirror moved in
📷 LSST Camera was completed @SLACLab
🪞 Our 8.4-meter mirror finally became a mirror
📷 LSST Camera arrived!
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2024-12-27 15:00:23

What a year! 🥳
We had some big moves and even bigger accomplishments this year at Rubin Observatory as we get ever closer to the end of construction!
Check out our incredible year in review 👇 🧵
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2024-12-27 15:00:23

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🏗️ The 3.5-meter secondary mirror was installed
📷 The engineering test camera was installed
✅ The 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror was installed—and we officially had a complete telescope!
🏅 The Simonyi Survey Telescope was formally dedicated in honor of the Simonyi family
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2024-12-21 15:00:21

Happy solstice! ☀️❄️
Today is the end of spring and the first day of summer in the Southern hemisphere, and what a beautiful spring it was! Thanks to our wonderful staff for these photos.
Wishing our Northern colleagues warmth on their first day of winter! 🥶
📷:
1-2: A. Alexov
3-5: K. Kelkar
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2024-12-06 21:09:46

✍️ Rubin #CommissioningNotes, entry 5️⃣: we’re making gains💪
Efficiency has been the name of the game for the past two weeks! As our team addresses the causes of data-taking interruptions, fewer interruptions occur—meaning even more data overall📈
=== Highlights ===
🌌 Our team consistently increased the number of visits captured each night. In fact, they got a record of nearly 100 in-focus visits in a single night last week using the automated software that drives Rubin’s telescope, called the Feature Based Scheduler.
The nightly average number of visits doubled overall this week, for a few reasons:
💪 Continued efficiency gains with fewer interruptions (and faster recoveries)
⏳ Less time overall between visits thanks to optimizations of the telescope control software
💨 Increasing telescope speed
===
There’s only one more week left in this testing period with Rubin’s engineering camera, ComCam! Will the team set a new record? 🤔
For more details from the past two weeks:
🔗 #1: https://community.lsst.org/t/2024-11-29-on-sky-commissioning-update/9604
🔗 #2: https://community.lsst.org/t/2024-12-06-on-sky-commissioning-update/9623
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2024-12-04 20:00:19

Hi neighbors! 👋
Rubin features in this NOIRLab #ImageOfTheWeek, along with our neighbors at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in the background. It's no surprise that world-class conditions attract lots of telescopes!
🔗: https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw2449a/
📷: O. Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
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2024-11-27 19:50:03

You're...green! 🟢🧙‍♀️
Well, seeing green, thanks to this striking view of Rubin. Inside, the LSST Camera and its six filters will soon reveal the Universe in not just green, but every color between the ultraviolet and near-infrared.
So, if you care to find a galaxy (or twenty billion, but who's counting?), look to the western skies. And the north, south, and east, because Rubin will cover the entire visible sky every few nights once it begins to #CaptureTheCosmos in 2025!
📷: H. Stockebrand
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2024-11-26 17:39:32

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@nprofile…k2vj 🤩stunning!

2024-11-25 19:20:06

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✨ With repeated data of the same sky area, the team successfully ran the software that will identify cosmic changes in Rubin's images, called the Difference Image Analysis pipeline, end-to-end for the first time—a great step toward the goal of delivering 10 million alerts per night about cosmic changes once Rubin begins to #CaptureTheCosmos in 2025 🥳
===
For more details on the continuing progress ➡️ https://community.lsst.org/t/2024-11-22-on-sky-commissioning-update/9583
2/2

2024-11-25 19:20:05

✍️ Rubin #CommissioningNotes, entry 4️⃣: whoaaaaa, we’re halfway there 🎶
Halfway through data-taking with Rubin’s test camera, that is. Our team has continued to make great progress testing Rubin’s systems with ComCam.
=== Highlights ===
🎨 The team got data using all six of Rubin’s wavelength filters for the first time!
💨 The team also continued increasing the telescope’s speed as the systems that manage the forces felt by the mirrors continued to show good response.
1/2
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2024-11-21 19:40:01

✍️ Rubin #CommissioningNotes, entry 3️⃣: progress continues!
Our team had some exciting accomplishments last week with Rubin's test camera, ComCam:
🏅the best image quality measured so far
🎨 data taken of the sky in five of Rubin's six wavelength filters
Our team has increased the telescope’s speed since tests have shown good control of the systems that manage the forces felt by Rubin’s delicate primary/tertiary mirror. That means more data and more efficient testing!
https://youtu.be/xyl6rDzDU7Q

2024-11-21 19:40:01

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There's lots of work still to do to bring the telescope up to its designed speed, but the team is encouraged by the rapid progress so far!
For more details: https://community.lsst.org/t/2024-11-15-on-sky-commissioning-update/9555

2024-11-20 19:01:02

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There's months of work ahead to refine Rubin's systems. The team's focus right now is the "active optics" systems that help support the telescope's mirrors and maintain the precise shape needed for crisp images.
For more details, catch up on these recent updates from earlier this month!
🔗 (Nov. 1): https://community.lsst.org/t/2024-11-01-on-sky-commissioning-update/9514
🔗 (Nov. 8): https://community.lsst.org/t/2024-11-08-on-sky-commissioning-update/9534

2024-11-20 19:00:51

✍️ Rubin #CommissioningNotes, entry 2️⃣: when you turn it on and it works 🤌
Initial tests with Rubin's test camera, ComCam, showed the telescope was already nearly aligned before even looking at the sky — a testament to decades of work! With further testing, our team continued to improve data quality🥳
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2024-11-19 22:25:29

Welcome to Rubin's #CommissioningNotes! Entry 1️⃣: we're in full swing!
Ok, but what's "commissioning?"
Rubin is the result of millions of hours of work by thousands of people around the world — all that work is coming together!
Commissioning is the process of testing, troubleshooting, & aligning the different parts & software of Rubin into one functioning system.
Stay tuned for updates on this adventure toward a complete Rubin Observatory as we log progress in our #CommissioningNotes!
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2024-11-17 17:36:04

It's probably a surprise to no one, but telescopes have a lot of reflective surfaces just begging for selfies! 🤳
This #SelfieSunday, take a browse through some of our recent favorites from our #RubinTeam 📸
About these selfies:
1: The CNRS-IN2P3 filter team in an LSST Camera filter
2: Selfie in the 144-megapixel detector of the Rubin Commissioning Camera
3: LSST Camera Team's Travis Lange in a camera filter
4: Rubin staff in the telescope's secondary mirror
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2024-11-14 18:35:03

We're #hiring!
Want to join the cutting edge of astronomy and astrophysics? We have openings for #developers on our Education & Public Outreach team, #observing specialists in Chile, and more!
💻 Junior full stack developer (EPO): https://ow.ly/KjmF50TZI5y
💻 Senior backend web developer (EPO): https://ow.ly/SCgI50TZI5E
🔭 Observing specialists - early, mid, or late career: https://ow.ly/MSNw50TZI5w
📈 System performance postdoc: https://ow.ly/k4I950TZI5z
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2024-10-31 16:00:12

Ever wonder what lurks in the shadows of our Universe? 🌌
85% of the cosmos is filled with something we can’t see but know is there because of its gravity...
It's not ghosts, it's dark matter 👻
But no need to be scared! Rubin Observatory will soon be on the hunt for the spooky, invisible dark matter that outweighs the regular matter we know and love by 5-to-1 😱 Learn how at https://rubinobservatory.org/explore/science-goals/dark-matter
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2024-10-23 21:00:01

Let the game-changing begin! 📰
Have you wondered why thousands of scientists are so excited for Rubin to #CaptureTheCosmos? This CNN article has you covered.
Learn about Rubin, its SLAC--built camera, and the science you can look forward to!
🔗: https://edition.cnn.com/science/vera-rubin-worlds-largest-camera-spc/index.html

2024-10-15 18:35:04

We're still buzzing about our beautiful telescope! 🤩
In case you missed it, Rubin Observatory staff recently installed the primary/tertiary mirror onto the Simonyi Survey Telescope. We officially have a complete telescope — using the commissioning camera — after 15 years of construction!
Read more about the installation: http://rubinobservatory.org/news/primary-mirror-install
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2024-09-06 19:30:02

Ever wondered what it's like at Rubin Observatory?
At the recent Rubin Community Workshop, attendees got a virtual tour of the observatory site—and you can watch it now too!
What was your favorite part?
Watch the full tour ➡️ https://youtu.be/_sSUvsSwrOk?si=pimmW7q1qFlhkHiE

2024-08-30 22:25:01

Commissioning camera: ✅
With ComCam reinstalled, we have 2 out 3 main telescope components in place!
In just a few weeks, summit staff will install the 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror—and Rubin will finally have a complete telescope system for the first time!
The commissioning camera is a 144 megapixel version of Rubin's 3200-megapixel car-sized camera and is used to test and troubleshoot the telescope's systems ahead of installing the full LSST Camera.
🔗: https://youtu.be/qY6YQsjP_7c

2024-05-22 18:19:33

The word’s largest camera built for astronomy & astrophysics has arrived at Rubin Observatory!
The LSST Camera completed a cross-continental trek from SLAC after two decades of work, marking the arrival of Rubin’s last major component in Chile.
🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/camera-arrives-chile
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwyjOHM607Y

2024-04-30 15:30:11

When you finally get that shiny coating you wanted.... 🤩
Rubin Observatory's 8.4-meter mirror is officially, finally, a mirror! In a 4.5-hour process, the glass got its protected silver coating—and one step closer to being able to #CaptureTheCosmos
🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/coating-primary-mirror
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2024-03-28 20:45:19

Full moon rising 🌕
This epic view of Rubin Observatory from March 24 was taken about 25km away near Andacollo, Chile, looking northeast toward Cerro Pachón.
Staff members Hernán Stockebrand and Mauricio Hernández spent months planning this shot—and it definitely paid off!
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2024-03-21 21:11:31

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A team from the @uarizona Richard F. Caris Mirror Lab made the trip to Chile to complete the lift using a custom-made vacuum lifter called a "spider" 🕷️
Next up: integrating the glass with the cell, and then moving it to the coating chamber to get its shiny silver coating!
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2024-03-21 21:11:13

1...2...3...LIFT!
The 62-ton piece of glass that will soon become Rubin Observatory's combined primary/tertiary mirror was unboxed at the summit this week and lifted onto its steel support cell! 🧵
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2024-03-12 17:30:02

It's not every day we get to throw a welcome home party 🎉
Last week marked a big construction achievement with the move of our 8.4-meter primary/tertiary mirror into the main observatory building! It'll now go through preparations to get its shiny silver coating ✨
https://youtu.be/xW_tukDo0Os

2024-03-09 18:10:15

We're #hiring!
Rubin Observatory seeks a talented adminstrative professional to support operations activities. As a Senior Executive Coordinator, this person will be an important part of making Rubin science a reality!
Apply by March 20: https://ow.ly/JvUr50QO2qX
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2024-02-27 19:49:28

We've got a pocketful, a pocketful of sunshine ☀️
The sun is on our side in this spectacular display of crepuscular rays 🌅
Did you know you're seeing the shadows of clouds here? Unobstructed light from a partially-blocked, low sun fans out to create this colorful display!
📷: A. Alexov
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2024-01-26 16:23:01

🚨 Job alert: the LSST Discovery Alliance is #hiring a Director for Strategic Engagement! ☄️
Do you have a (natural or social) scientific or technical background, strategic thinking skills, excitement for Rubin's ten-year survey and for scientific inclusion, and a passion for building relationships? Apply by Feb. 15: https://lsstdiscoveryalliance.org/director-for-strategic-engagement/
--
LSST-DA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that develops and implements bold programs that seek to maximize the scientific and societal impact of Rubin's LSST.

2023-12-07 19:31:01

We’re nearing our final form 😎
Gear up, this one’s good. The Rubin Observatory dome officially rotated using its permanent gear system for the first time!
Until now, the dome moved with a temporary system that would only roughly position the dome as needed during construction. The new gear drive is what will precisely rotate the 600-ton dome into position throughout Rubin’s ten-year survey, due to start in 2025. And it has little vibration—important for the crisp images we all can’t wait for!
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/111/540/793/025/124/527/original/712a65d671afd5cf.mp4

2023-08-10 20:29:40

You're not from around here, are ya? ☄️
Interstellar objects come from star systems far, far away—& give scientists another way to learn about other systems.
With #LSST, scientists will find many interstellar objects that would've remained hidden!
🔗: https://rubinobservatory.org/news/visitors-from-distant-stars
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/110/867/210/416/247/791/original/9eb94bbcdaaa2e9b.jpeg

2023-07-06 16:00:26

Ever had so much data on one computer that it locked up? 🙋
How about on 60,000 1-terabyte laptops? Relatable, we know.
That’s how much data Rubin Observatory will produce by the end of its 10-year survey. That’s *20 terabytes* every night.
…we might need more laptops 🧵
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/110/667/970/887/115/946/original/46affd9c36951db6.jpeg

2023-05-08 19:30:21

Achievement unlocked! 😎
Rubin Observatory's telescope support structure is now ready for the full-size replicas of the 8.4-meter mirror and other optical components, including the stand-in for the giant 3200-megapixel camera! 🧵
🔗: https://noirlab.edu/public/news/noirlab2312/
https://cdn.masto.host/astrodonsocial/media_attachments/files/110/334/720/096/614/334/original/8eec3b624d51b1d0.jpeg