Rubin Observatory

Photons, meet the Commissioning Camera 🤝 On October 24, Rubin staff successfully completed the first end-to-end on-sky test of the full telescope system using the testing camera — from capturing the night sky to transferring data to SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory! This group photo was taken in the closed dome through a pinhole ahead of the on-sky test. This means that Rubin now has a complete AND functioning telescope — starlight traveled through the telescope, was captured by the test camera, and appeared in a digital image! Read more about this exciting milestone ➡️ https://lnkd.in/gJfXuVYE . . . 📷: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA NSF NOIRLab | NOIRLab en Español | National Science Foundation (NSF) | Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy | U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Let the game-changing begin! 📰 Have you wondered why thousands of scientists around the world are so excited for Rubin to #CaptureTheCosmos beginning in 2025? This CNN article has you covered. Learn about Rubin, its SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory-built camera, and the science you can look forward to over the next decade and beyond! 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gYeRCiu7 . . . NSF NOIRLab | Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy | National Science Foundation (NSF) | U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

Want a gourd idea this #Halloween? Give your neighbors pumpkin to talk about with this Rubin-themed jack-o-lantern stencil 🎃 Carve out some fun this spooky season and tag us in your #RubinPumpkins photos! Grab the stencil 👉 ls.st/halloweenstencil

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: https://lnkd.in/gNH-pDyu

Last Friday, we celebrated the dedication of the Simonyi Survey Telescope, the telescope at the heart of Rubin Observatory! The name recognizes important support from Charles and Lisa Simonyi in 2008, whose $20 million gift enabled the start of construction on the telescope's mirrors. This early momentum was pivotal in helping Rubin Observatory transform from an idea into reality! Charles Simonyi has continued to provide support for early career researchers focused on Rubin science through the Simonyi-National Science Foundation (NSF) Scholars program. Once online in 2025, Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos in exquisite detail with the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, creating an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of our Universe and revolutionizing the way we explore the cosmos. 🔗: https://lnkd.in/gXwGNs-b . . . NSF NOIRLab | NOIRLab en Español | SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory | National Science Foundation (NSF) | U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) | Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy 📷: 1. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/M. Paredes 2. RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/A. Pizarro D.

🚨BREAKING NEWS: We have a telescope!! Last week, summit staff successfully installed Rubin Observatory's combined primary/tertiary mirror 🤩 With all three mirrors and the commissioning camera now in place, we officially—for the first time in 15 years of construction—have a complete telescope! Next step: get this telescope on-sky!🌌 This isn't the telescope's final form though. This iteration has the commissioning camera — a smaller 144-megapixel version of Rubin's huge, 3200-megapixel camera — which is used for testing and troubleshooting. Rubin's LSST Camera, the biggest digital camera in the world that will #CaptureTheCosmos in science operations, will be installed early next year after our summit staff complete the next round of tests. Congratulations to the #RubinTeam, and major thanks to our incredible summit staff for all of their hard work!

Like your digital camera, but bigger. Much bigger. The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory-built LSST Camera looks remarkably like a super-sized handheld digital camera. Here's how it stacks up against the camera you might have at home! 📸 Which surprised you the most?

In case you missed it: check out this NSF NOIRLab blog about Ron Harris — a talented machinist who, among many other things, constructed parts for Rubin Observatory 😎 Learn more about Ron and his five decades of work for telescopes around the globe 👇

Don't miss the celestial show! ☄️ The "comet of the century" has been putting on quite a show, and it's about to dip below the eastern horizon. Soon, it'll appear in the western evening sky on the other side of the Sun. ☀️ If you haven't seen it yet, fear not! Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS will make its closest approach to Earth on October 12, when it'll be visible above the western horizon just after sunset 🌅 For now, enjoy these spectacular photos from Hernán Stockebrand, a Rubin Audiovisual Ambassador! 🎶: Sound Gallery by Dmitry Taras

Watch us dazzle like a diamond in the rough, our stuff is so ✨shiny✨ What's going on here? Power washing? No, that's too harsh for delicate telescope mirrors! Our staff are actually using liquid carbon dioxide in a process called "CO2 snow cleaning." The high-speed carbon dioxide removes dust and other debris without causing damage to the sensitive mirror surface or leaving behind any residue. With the mirrors nice and shiny, we're nearly prepped for installing the combined primary/tertiary mirror! Once that's installed, Rubin will have a complete optical system for the very first time, using the commissioning camera 🥳 That's happening soon, stay tuned!