Rubin Observatory Releases First Images, as The 91探花One Sky Center for Astrophysics Begins Celestial Partnership
The first images from Rubin's LSST project reveal 10 million galaxies over 10 square degrees of night sky. (Credit: SF鈥揇OE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)
If the first few frames are any indicator of a blockbuster movie, hold the 2035 Best Picture Oscar for the and its ambitious new 10-year project.
On June 23, 2025, scientists at the state-of-the-art facility in the mountains of north-central Chile gave the public its into the capabilities of its 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope, equipped with the world鈥檚 largest digital camera鈥攁 3.2 megapixel, 6,600-pound behemoth that can photograph the whole southern sky every few nights.
Its task is a decade-long lapse record-called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The first shots on that journey have left both the general public and astronomical community in awe, revealing in rich detail a mind-boggling number of galaxies, stars, asteroids and other celestial bodies.
鈥淭he amount of sky it covers, even in just one image, is unprecedented,鈥� said David Chuss, PhD, chair of the Department of Physics, who viewed the first images with colleagues at an organized watch party.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such high-precision, beautiful detail,鈥� added Kelly Hambleton Pr拧a, PhD, associate professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Science. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just mind-blowing.鈥�
Rubin's Simonyi Survey Telescope will revolutionize how researchers study components of our universe, from stars to black holes, to mysterious dark matter and beyond. (Credit: H.Stockebrand/RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA)
What Makes Rubin and LSST So Unique?
Simply, this revolutionary instrument, embarking on an equally revolutionary initiative, will observe half the sky to a greater depth and clarity than any instrument ever has before.
Consider this: image released by Rubin contains 1,185 individual exposures, taken over seven nights. Each one of those individual exposures covers 10 square degrees of night sky, which is about the same as looking up at 45 full moons positioned around one another. It may seem like a small size, but click the image yourself, and zoom in and out. The amount of sky captured in that range鈥攅nough to show roughly 10 million galaxies鈥攊s astounding. Per the Observatory, 鈥渋t is the only astronomical tool in existence that can assemble an image this wide and deep so quickly.鈥�
鈥淎t the end of 10 years, Rubin will have observed 20 billion galaxies, and each night in that time frame it will generate 20 terabytes of data,鈥� Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a said. 鈥淎nd, because Rubin has so many different filters, we get to see the same objects in so many different ways.鈥�
According to Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a and Dr. Chuss, the power and precision of the Rubin LSST, combined with the shear area of the sky that will be observed, will allow for an incredibly in-depth study of myriad objects, processes and events in ways nobody has ever studied them before.
鈥淔or example, in our galaxy, we expect to observe only two supernovae per century,鈥� Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a said. 鈥淏ut we're observing 20 billion galaxies. For someone studying this phenomenon, the number of supernovae that they鈥檙e going to observe will be off the charts. It is an exquisite survey.鈥�
It will also provide insight into the universe鈥檚 oldest and most puzzling enigmas.
鈥淩ubin is able to look back into our universe at times when it was much smaller during its expansion and really address some of these incredible mysteries out there, like dark energy,鈥� Dr. Chuss said. 鈥淲e know the universe is expanding and that this expansion is accelerating. Rubin will trace the history of that acceleration and, from that, provide insight into the physics of the mysterious dark energy that appears to be driving it.鈥�
To enhance the technological capabilities of its instrument, scientists were invited to contribute towards the selection of the observing strategy of the telescope. The Rubin team took into consideration continual input from the astrophysics community, separated into what they call 鈥渟cience collaborations.鈥� To achieve this, the Rubin team generated proposed simulations for collecting observations, which the science collaborations then assessed for their specific science goals.
鈥淭he Rubin team then iterated with the science collaborations, taking into account feedback, to ultimately obtain the best strategy for the largest number of science cases,鈥� Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a said.
Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a is the primary contact for the Pulsating Star Subgroup, which is part of the , the science collaboration that focuses on objects in the sky that change with time. She was the lead author among 70 co-authors on the roadmap for this science collaboration, underscoring the significant scale of community participation for each of these areas.
The 91探花One Sky Center for Astrophysics and its partnership with Rubin will greatly expand research opportunities for 91探花faculty and students as well as the greater astronomical and physics communities.
Joined Under One Sky
Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a, Dr. Chuss and other members of the Astrophysics and Planetary Science Department and Department of Physics at 91探花have a vested interest in Rubin and the LSST project.
In April, the two departments joined forces to launch The 91探花One Sky Center for Astrophysics, co-directed by the two faculty members. With goals to elevate the University's longstanding record of research eminence in astronomy and astrophysics and create opportunities for more students to access the disciplines, the Center partnered with the Rubin Observatory to help realize the mission. Both 91探花and Rubin share a similar vision on expanding access to this broad field of study.
Fortuitously, the launch of The 91探花One Sky Center coincided with the initial data released from Rubin. What will result, Dr. Chuss says, will be a 鈥渢ruly awesome impact on both our Center and institution.鈥�
Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a will advance her own research of pulsating stars, and Andrej Pr拧a, PhD, professor of Astrophysics and Planetary Science and the primary contact for the Binary Star Subgroup, will broaden his study of short-period binary stars. Joey Neilsen, PhD, associate professor of Physics, will expand his research in black hole astrophysics. Becka Phillipson, PhD, an assistant professor of Physics, who recently led a proposal for 91探花to join the Rubin LSST Discovery Alliance, aims to increase the scope of her study of chaotic variability of compact objects. Dr. Chuss, who generally works on infrared and microwave polarimetry, which is 鈥渙utside the wavelength ranges of Rubin鈥� is interested in its complementarity with other observations, such as those of the cosmic microwave background鈥攖he oldest light in the universe鈥攁nd the evolution of the large-scale structure of the universe. Subjects, he says, which are 鈥渆xactly in the wheelhouse for Rubin.鈥�
Other faculty members are interested in topics such as how Rubin鈥檚 observations may change the knowledge of both the history and structure of our solar system and the population of Milky Way satellite galaxies. That is not to mention, Dr. Hambleton Pr拧a points out, the daily 20 terabytes of data that will become available for students and postdoctoral researchers under their tutelage, who will be heavily involved in its analysis for their own projects and ideas.
鈥淭his partnership is going to greatly increase our opportunities and elevate our profile,鈥� Dr. Chuss said. 鈥淚t will make our program even more attractive for faculty, postdocs and students to come and to share their knowledge and expertise.
鈥淭ogether, we will all have access to an incredible movie of this epoch of our universe, and the knowledge and surprises that come with it along the way.鈥�