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 Vera C. Rubin Observatory (right).

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First look: The Vera Rubin Observatory comes to life

Get ready to join us virtually around the world on June 23, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. EDT as we unveil the first spectacular images from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

Watch it here or on YouTube.

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An artist’s Illustration of NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory capturing supernovas, the explosive deaths of massive stars.

NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will capture the unseen cosmos: Dark matter, dark energy and millions of exploding stars

The observatory will create the biggest, most data-rich movie ever made — a 10-year, high-precision chronicle of trillions of cosmic events and objects across the vastness of space and time.
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