Vera Rubin Observatory reveals first stunning images of the cosmos

Washington, DC - The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile published their first images this week, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies.

This undated handout image released by NSF-DOE on June 20, 2025 shows another small section of NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory's total view of the Virgo cluster. © HANDOUT / NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / AFP

More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos.

One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula – both several thousand light-years from Earth – glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops.

The image reveals these stellar nurseries within our Milky Way in unprecedented detail, with previously faint or invisible features now clearly visible.

Another image offers a sweeping view of the Virgo Cluster of galaxies.

The team also released a video dubbed the "cosmic treasure chest," which begins with a close-up of two galaxies before zooming out to reveal approximately 10 million more.

"The Rubin Observatory is an investment in our future, which will lay down a cornerstone of knowledge today on which our children will proudly build tomorrow," said Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

Introducing...your sneak peek at the cosmos captured by @NSF–@doescience Vera C. Rubin Observatory!

Can you guess what regions of sky they are?

This is just a peek...join us at 11am US EDT for your full First Look at how Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos!https://t.co/1a74X2edp8 pic.twitter.com/DE3tx2RQI4

— NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) June 23, 2025

📌@VRubinObs is introducing an interactive, easy-to-use SkyViewer app, which offers both guided and free-form exploration of select Rubin images. Check it out: https://t.co/zrmfqv0UCW. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/JtDoCm2oq0

— U.S. National Science Foundation (@NSF) June 23, 2025

The sky's the limit for the ambitious Rubin Observatory This undated handout image released by NSF-DOE shows a combination of 678 separate images taken by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. © HANDOUT / NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory / AFP

Equipped with an advanced 8.4-meter telescope and the largest digital camera ever built, the Rubin Observatory is supported by a powerful data-processing system.

Later this year, it will begin its flagship project, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). Over the next decade, it will scan the night sky nightly, capturing even the subtlest visible changes with unmatched precision.

The observatory is named after pioneering American astronomer Vera C. Rubin, whose research provided the first conclusive evidence for the existence of dark matter – a mysterious substance that does not emit light but exerts gravitational influence on galaxies.

Dark energy refers to the equally mysterious and immensely powerful force believed to be driving the accelerating expansion of the universe. Together, dark matter and dark energy are thought to make up 95% of the cosmos, yet their true nature remains unknown.

The observatory, a joint initiative of the US National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, has also been hailed as one of the most powerful tools ever built for tracking asteroids.

In just 10 hours of observations, the Rubin Observatory discovered 2,104 previously undetected asteroids in our solar system, including seven near-Earth objects – all of which pose no threat.

This expansive image of Trifid and Lagoon reveals dust lanes and star clusters that make this part of the Milky Way come alive.

The exquisite detail in this image demonstrates the exceptional quality of Rubin’s entire system — from its telescope, to camera, to data systems. pic.twitter.com/WzFsGiITKe

— NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory (@VRubinObs) June 23, 2025

For comparison, all other ground- and space-based observatories combined discover about 20,000 new asteroids per year.

Rubin is also set to be the most effective observatory at spotting interstellar objects passing through the solar system.