News

From the heights of Cerro Pachón, in Chile’s Coquimbo Region, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is ushering in a new era of cosmic exploration from South America. In its first ten hours of testing, its powerful telescope detected 2,104 asteroids never before seen, including seven near-Earth asteroids, along with millions of previously hidden galaxies and stars.

This achievement was made possible by its revolutionary 3,200-megapixel digital camera—the largest ever built—capable of capturing ultra-high-definition images of the sky. This milestone marks a turning point for global astronomy and positions both Chile and Latin America as key players in the advancement of scientific knowledge.

The observatory is named after American astronomer Vera C. Rubin, a pioneer in the search for conclusive evidence of the existence of vast amounts of invisible matter, known as dark matter. The initiative is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Department of Energy (DOE) and developed in collaboration with the National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory (NOIRLab), the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), and the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), among other international institutions.

Thanks to its 8.4-meter primary mirror and advanced three-mirror optical system, the observatory will scan the entire southern sky every three or four nights, capturing a visual field equivalent to 45 full moons in each image. By the end of 2025, the observatory is scheduled to begin its Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which will repeatedly survey the southern sky for 10 years, generating real-time alerts for astronomical phenomena that can be followed up by observatories and scientific teams around the world.

Once fully operational, it will produce about 500 petabytes of data over a decade—allowing astronomers to map more than 20 billion galaxies, discover up to 1.4 million new solar system objects, and detect transient phenomena such as supernovae or potentially hazardous asteroids.

The Rubin Observatory will be the most efficient solar system discovery machine in human history. Every night it will take thousands of images of the southern sky, surveying it entirely and revealing millions of previously unknown asteroids, comets, and interstellar objects.

The results will completely change planetary defense strategies and pave the way for findings that will impact science for decades to come. Moreover, the quality and quantity of its images will strengthen planetary defense by doubling the number of near-Earth asteroids that can be detected, allowing the identification of more of these objects and the calculation of their potential impacts years or even decades in advance. That’s why experts describe the observatory as a fundamental tool for better understanding our surroundings and preparing for cosmic threats.

This facility is also key for Latin America, as northern Chile will concentrate nearly 70% of the world’s ground-based astronomical observation capacity. Its launch includes an educational and outreach program for the public and schools across the region, offering resources in Spanish and English and an interactive platform to facilitate access to new discoveries.

In its first year, the Rubin Observatory will gather more data than all other optical observatories combined, providing scientists with an unparalleled resource for investigating the universe. To learn more about this project, download educational materials, and more, visit the observatory’s website: https://rubinobservatory.org/

Source:
Taken from: Ever-changing Universe Revealed in First Imagery From NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory