NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory
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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory
@vrubinobs.bsky.social
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Get ready for a new era in astronomy and astrophysics with Rubin Observatory!

Para español siga a Instagram: http://instagram.com/rubin_observatory
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Today isn't just #Halloween🎃, it's also #DarkMatterDay!

Dark matter interacts via gravity, so while we can’t see it directly, we know it’s there.

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's 10-year survey will measure distortions in billions of galaxies, revealing where dark matter is hiding.🔭🧪
October 31, 2025 at 8:14 PM
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A decade of discovery and dedication! 🌎🔭

Sandrine Thomas, Deputy Director for NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Construction, reflects on her path — moving from France to the US, traveling to Chile, and sharing her work with her family.

🎥 Meet Sandrine https://youtu.be/_r-e0kzYjf4
October 30, 2025 at 10:07 PM
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Some galaxies love to hog the spotlight, but sometimes we see past them! 🔭

In this image from the #RubinFirstLook Cosmic Treasure Chest, a distant galaxy peeks from behind a large foreground galaxy.

This "layered" view helps scientists understand the 3D structure of the Universe 🌌🔭🧪
October 29, 2025 at 8:25 PM
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What if you could capture a two-hour sunset in a single photo?

This composite was built from ~6,000 photos taken on a night in mid-July, each contributing just one column of pixels.

Look closely and you’ll spot stars starting to twinkle in the upper left as the night begins ✨🔭🧪
A boot-shaped observatory against a sunset sky. The sky is lighter and blue on the right, transitioning to dark with twinkling stars on the left.
October 28, 2025 at 7:33 PM
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We come with receipts🧾

Tidal tails are cosmic “receipts” of galactic drama, showing who collided with whom. Rubin's camera is sharp enough to catch wind of even the faintest intergalactic tea.

No need to worry about "pics or it didn't happen" with Rubin keeping a close eye 😎 🔭🧪
A sprawling field of galaxies fills the deep black of space, dotted with glowing stars and colorful smudges of light. Near the top, a smooth golden elliptical galaxy glows like polished stone, linked by delicate, taffy-like streams of stars to nearby galaxies below—evidence of ancient cosmic collisions.
October 24, 2025 at 10:05 PM
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Fast, precise, unstoppable! ⚡🔭

Freddy Muñoz, who leads NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory's mechanical team on the summit, discusses how the speed of Rubin's Simonyi Survey Telescope will let us capture more objects in the Universe than ever before. 🔭🧪

🎥 Meet Freddy https://youtu.be/Vg7ZgU4y-dg
October 23, 2025 at 10:32 PM
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How do Rubin alerts work? 🌌📲

Think of Rubin Observatory as a friend constantly scrolling through the Universe’s social media feed. Every minute, they refresh and see what’s new — an asteroid has moved, a star has changed in brightness...or maybe even exploded in a supernova. 🔭🧪
October 22, 2025 at 11:20 PM
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Eye on the southern sky 🌌

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is like a cosmic watchtower, capturing the entire visible sky every few nights.

Before, scientists would spend their careers looking for supernovae. But Rubin will accomplish in minutes or hours what used to take a lifetime! 🔭🧪
A boot-shaped observatory perched on its rocky mountain summit site under a star-filled sky with the Milky Way galaxy arching overhead.
October 17, 2025 at 7:45 PM
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Designing how Rubin decides what to observe and when🔭

Meet Tiago Ribeiro, Scheduler Scientist and Software Architect at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory.

In this video, he shares his path from professor in Brazil to shaping large-scale projects like Rubin.

🎥 https://youtu.be/EnxGm5MtXjE
October 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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Golden hour hits different above 2600 meters. ✨🌅

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory basks in that sunset ✨glow✨ at its site on Cerro Pachón. And with over 300 clear nights on average per year here, that's a lot of sunset basking we get to do! 🔭🧪
Large boot-shaped observatory with a massive telescope dome reflecting orange and golden sunset light atop its rocky mountain site. Large boot-shaped observatory with a massive telescope dome atop its rocky mountain site, with the golden glow of sunset over the rolling peaks in the distance. Large boot-shaped observatory on a rocky mountain peak during a vibrant sunset with layered mountain ranges in the background. Drone shot of a massive teal telescope within an observatory's dome with a vertical opening, surrounded by winding mountain roads and dry terrain.
October 8, 2025 at 5:10 PM
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NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is incredible, but we try to stay down to Earth...😉

How does Rubin take sharp images of the cosmos from the ground? Computer-controlled actuators adjust its mirrors and camera against wind or gravity in real time, keeping everything perfectly aligned. 💨🪞✨
A boot-shaped observatory sits atop its dry mountain site under a twilight sky filled with stars. The observatory’s open dome reveals the telescope inside, with a donut-shaped calibration screen mounted to the inside of the dome and illuminated by soft blue light. The surrounding mountains are silhouetted against the fading glow of sunset on the horizon.
October 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM
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Our Solar System has millions of wandering asteroids and comets that are small, far away, and usually dark. Rubin Observatory excels at detecting faint objects, and it’ll find 10-100 times more Solar System objects than were known before! 🔭🧪
A wide-angle night panorama of Rubin Observatory on a rocky mountain peak, with a dirt road curving around from left to right. The full moon glows brightly near the horizon on the right, illuminating the landscape. Overhead, the Milky Way arcs across the sky, glowing with dense star fields, dark dust lanes, and red emission nebulae. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds appear as bright fuzzy patches below the arcing band of the Milky Way.
October 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
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It's International #ObserveTheMoon Night! 🌙

The Moon is dazzlingly bright — so bright that NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will never point at it. But there are many Solar System objects that are incredibly faint, and that’s where Rubin shines.🔭🧪
The yellow disc of the full moon dominates the image. The moon has nearly risen above the horizon running along the bottom of the image, but is just cut off from being a perfect circle at the bottom. Rubin Observatory is silhouetted toward the right side of the moon, shaped like a boot with low service building extending to the right and shiny angular dome sticking up. A small-looking crane sits to the left of the observatory. A composite image shows the Vera C. Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón in Chile beneath a clear blue sky. Multiple exposures of the Moon, taken over time, form a diagonal trail across the sky, showing its motion as it sets. The observatory’s large, angular dome and surrounding rocky peaks stand out against the mountainous horizon in the distance. The sliver of a crescent moon hangs above a dark horizon next to a silhouetted Rubin Observatory amid a firey orange sky The yellow orb of the moon glows just above the horizon to the left of a white observatory building on a rocky landscape with a silver dome shining in the moonlight. The horizon cuts through the center of the image, and sparse clouds add interest to the blue-tinted sky.
October 4, 2025 at 4:10 PM
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That’s where NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory comes in. We’re not a regular observatory, we’re a cool observatory! 🔭🧪

The 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will measure observed distortions in billions of galaxies, revealing where the invisible dark matter is hiding.

📷: W. O'Mullane
October 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
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Dark matter is the mysterious substance in the Universe that only interacts with regular matter (like you and us) via gravity. We can’t see it directly, but we see its influence as it bends light across the cosmos.🔭🧪
large scale structure in the universe shows a weblike distribution of galaxies surrounded by invisible dark matter
October 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
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Is dark matter a carb?

No, Gretchen, it's not, but we're trying to figure out what it is!

At 85% percent of the Universe's mass and energy, it's sort of like Gretchen's hair: big and full of secrets. 🔭🧪

📷: W. O'Mullane
A boot-shaped observatory atop its mountain site at twilight. The sky glows in gradients of purple, pink, and orange as the sun sets behind the mountains in the distance. Stars begin to appear above the angular, open observatory dome, which is illuminated against the colorful horizon.
October 3, 2025 at 9:20 PM
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Keeping NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory running takes critical systems working seamlessly behind the scenes ⚡🔧

Franco Colleoni, Electronic Engineer, shares the rewarding aspects of his work on Rubin's vital systems. 🔭🧪

🎥 Meet Franco: https://youtu.be/NMPBIBF2vdw
October 2, 2025 at 9:11 PM
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That way, scientists know the amount of signal that's due to the camera itself and can remove it from the raw images, leaving science-ready images that contain only the light from the cosmos✨🔭 🧪

📸 for all: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/W. O'Mullane
Rubin Observatory's huge 8.4-meter telescope points at the in-dome calibration screen. On the right, and tilted left nearly to horizontal, the telescope is a huge, teal steel structure with a top and middle ring supported by thick beams connected to the telescope base. On the left, the calibration screen is a large white donut shape slightly wider than the top end of the telescope.
October 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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When the LSST Camera takes an image, it also gets signal from itself, including faint heat (aka infrared light!) or natural variations between pixels.🔭 🧪

By reflecting the same, controlled amount of light onto every pixel, this calibration screen reveals those variations.
An ominous blue donut-shaped ring glows ominously in the dark to the left. To the right, Rubin's large steel telescope mount structure is barely visible, softly illuminated by the blue glow.
October 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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The screen is lit by specific LEDs that test all 3.2 billion pixels of the LSST Camera.

For each of the camera’s six filters, scientists use a different LED combination to see exactly how every pixel responds across the full rainbow of light.🔭 🧪

But why does this matter?
An ominous blue donut-shaped ring glows ominously in the dark to the right. To the left, Rubin's large steel telescope mount structure is barely visible, softly illuminated by the blue glow.
October 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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You glow girl! ✨

At NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, the secret to achieving a glowing-from-within look is our calibration screen.🔭 🧪

It's glamorous, we know 💅

🧵
An ominous blue donut-shaped ring surrounded by a thin red ring glows ominously in the dark to the left. To the right, Rubin's large steel telescope mount structure is barely visible, softly illuminated by the glow.
October 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
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You might think the night sky is the paparazzi magnet at Cerro Pachón, but it's actually the viscachas.

(Ok, it's both.)

These local celebrities are a favorite sighting among observatory scientists — they even bask in the sunset glow just like observers do before the night! 🔭🧪
A small rodent with long ears and fluffy tail sits silhouetted on top of a rock against a yellow sunset sky. A small fat rodent with long ears and fluffy tail sits on a gray rock. It appears almost content and proper, with eyes closed and front paws crossed. A small rodent with long ears and fluffy tail sits on a rock in the brown Chilean landscape. Scrubby bushes sparsely populate the scene. A small rodent with long ears and fluffy tail sits among the brown Chilean landscape. Scrubby bushes sparsely populate the scene.
September 26, 2025 at 7:28 PM
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To celebrate the approaching end of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's construction period, we're reminiscing through the eyes of some of our talented staff.

Join us for the #RubinConstructionArchives series, every Tuesday and Thursday on Youtube through November! 🔭 🧪

youtube.com/RubinObservatory
September 24, 2025 at 8:46 PM
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Are you more of a spring🌺 or winter❄️ palette? 🎨

Today is the September #equinox, the first day of spring in the Southern hemisphere. That means we’re swapping the cool, crisp tones of snow and winter for the fresh, warm hues of spring just around the corner.💐

🔭 🧪
The boot-shaped Rubin Observatory sits atop a rocky mountain peak under a clear blue sky. In the foreground, yellow wildflowers and desert shrubs grow among rugged brown rocks. A five-color palette beneath the photo shows dusty blue, light blue, green, gold, and brown. The boot-shaped Rubin Observatory sits atop a rocky mountain peak under a clouded sky. The rugged brown rocks are draped in ice and snow. A five-color palette beneath the photo shows almost-black, light blue, light grayish blue, gray, and off-white. A dramatic sunset over Cerro Pachón after a snow storm bathes the low-hanging clouds in pink and orange. A snow-dusted ridgeline cuts through the scene. A five-color palette beneath the photo shows a dark dusty blue, rich dark blue, pinky orange, light pink, and a darker dusty pink An indistinguishable photo, the result of snow completely covering the camera. A five-color palette beneath the photo shows various shades of gray.
September 22, 2025 at 6:42 PM
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Ok, well now you're just showing off.

...we're not mad about it though.

This spectacular nightscape of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory in Chile features the striking band of the Milky Way and its companions.🔭 🧪
Panorama of Rubin Observatory on its mountain site in Chile beneath the night sky. The glowing band of the Milky Way arches from the lower center to upper right, ending above Rubin Observatory's boot-shaped silhouette. The sky is a deep blue, nearly black, and the pinpricks of stars dot the scene. To the left, the smudges of the Large and Small Magellanic clouds appear among the pinpricks of foreground stars.
September 19, 2025 at 8:16 PM