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rubinobservatory.org
Worlds like 2026 ED138 bridge the size gap between small asteroids and large planets, helping us understand how different types of objects in our Solar System formed and evolved.🔭🧪

Explore its orbit in Orbitviewer! orbitviewer.app/en/solar-ite...

🎥, 📸: NSF–DOE Rubinobs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R. Proctor
— 2026 ED138
2026 ED138 is a large, bright trans-Neptunian object and dwarf planet candidate discovered in 2026 by scientists using data from NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin...
orbitviewer.app
October 28, 2026 at 10:15 PM
universal-sci.bsky.social
Spectacular: Countless Galaxies in a Single View!

What looks like a field of tiny lights is actually a vast collection of galaxies. Nearly every glowing point in this image is a galaxy in its own right.

(Video by Universal-Sci - Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA)
September 9, 2026 at 5:05 PM
rubinobservatory.org
Clouds during the day☁️, clear at night🌌

That's a common pattern at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. Daytime heating lifts cool, moist marine air into clouds. After sunset, the air re-settles into the valleys, leaving clear skies for observing! 🔭🧪

🎥 NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
September 4, 2026 at 7:40 PM
rubinobservatory.org
It's #InternationalDogDay and we're featuring local canids! 🦊

At NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, it’s not not all galaxies & asteroids. Sometimes foxes come by to see what we’re up to, reminding us we’re part of a bigger ecosystem.

📷: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/K. Fanning
Gray fox standing alert on dry, rocky ground surrounded by sparse vegetation and yellow wildflowers. A small fox standing alert on dry, rocky terrain surrounded by sparse desert bushes under a clear blue sky. A fox walking over sunlit rocky terrain near green shrubs in a mountainous area.
August 26, 2026 at 9:39 PM
rubinobservatory.org
We're not afraid of commitment 💍🔭

Yes, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's LSST is a 10-year commitment! But why?

To truly #CaptureTheCosmos we need to balance both "depth" and "time." Ten years is what we need to achieve both 🌌⏱️

🎥: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
August 17, 2026 at 7:15 PM
rubinobservatory.org
Somewhere in this image of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is a viscacha...

Viscachas are rabbit-like rodents related to chinchillas. They're well-camouflaged for the landscape of the Chilean mountains! #FaunaFriday 🔭🧪

📷: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/I. Sullivan

(Hint… ↙️ 👀)
Boot-shaped observatory perched in the distance atop a rugged mountain ridge bathed in warm golden sunset light. A viscacha is camouflaged at lower left.
August 14, 2026 at 7:15 PM
rubinobservatory.org
Most asteroids pose no threat, but tracking the ones that could starts with knowing they exist. 🔭🧪

Over the next decade, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will reveal millions more, including ~90k near-Earth objects — a big step toward identifying threats☄️

🎥: NSF–DOE RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R. Proctor
August 12, 2026 at 5:01 PM
starzanplanets.bsky.social
So happy to have contributed to this effort led by Sarah Greenstreet - now published in #ApJLetters! #AAS247 #TeamAsteroid #RubinObs @vrubinobs.bsky.social
rubinobservatory.org NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory @rubinobservatory.org · Jan 7
You spin us right 'round!

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory scientists at #AAS247 just announced the discovery of a record-breaking asteroid over 500m in size that spins once every ~2 minutes 🤯😵💫

It’s the fastest-rotating asteroid this big ever found! 🔭🧪☄️

🔗: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-r...
Cluster of irregularly shaped asteroids floating in dark space with a distant glowing star in the background.
January 7, 2026 at 5:41 PM
pauleric70.bsky.social
The first images from The Vera C. Rubin Observatory have been released!

Awe-inspiring to say the least. 💫😲💫👏💫✨💫💙💫

📸 Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA)
June 24, 2025 at 1:48 AM
carlsaganinstitute.bsky.social
Rubin is a massive step forward in space science—especially when see how far astronomy has come over the centuries. We at the Carl Sagan Institute are incredibly excited!

What type of object do you most want to see with Rubin? Let us know! ✨✨✨
Another image (Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula) taken this week with the Irving Porter Church Refractor at Fuertes Observatory, Cornell University. Astronomy has come a long way in the 100 years since this telescope was built, but the grainy images have their charm, too! Taken by Ben Jacobson-Bell, Gillis Lowry, and Marquice Sanchez-Fleming. Recent drone view of Rubin! Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Matsopoulos
June 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
carlsaganinstitute.bsky.social
In a single night, Rubin generates 1000 images of 3.2 billion pixels each—20 terabytes of data.

In the next decade, Rubin will find 20 billion galaxies, 17 billion stars, 10 million supernovae, and 6 million Solar System objects (including five times the number of asteroids ever found)!
Rubin gazes upward with a primary mirror nearly 28 feet across (8.4 meters) and a camera 12 feet wide (3.65 meters) Credit: RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/W. O'Mullane
June 25, 2025 at 9:26 PM
stellerarts.com
Wake up nerds, the first images from the Rubin Observatory just dropped!

Rubin’s specialty: a wide field of view and speed. This gorgeous image of the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae combines 678 exposures taken in 7 hours.

📸: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA
A cosmic tapestry of glowing tan and pink gas clouds with dark dust lanes. In the upper right, the Trifid Nebula resembles a small flower in space. Its soft, pinkish gas petals are surrounded by blue gas, and streaked with dark, finger-like veins of dust that divide it into three parts. It radiates a gentle, misty glow, diffuse and soft like the warmth of breath on a cold hand. To the lower left, the much larger Lagoon Nebula stretches wide like a churning sea of magenta gas, with bright blue, knotted clumps sprinkled throughout where new stars are born. Both nebulae are embedded in a soft tan backdrop of gas that is brighter on the left than on the right, etched with dark tendrils of dust and sprinkled with the pinpricks of millions of stars. Credit for this alt text from Rubin’s social media account
June 23, 2025 at 6:12 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
Background 📷: RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/H. Stockebrand
April 8, 2026 at 1:18 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
Picture credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/F. Munoz Arancibia
August 22, 2025 at 1:37 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
It's been a while since we posted a picture of the mighty LSST camera so here goes... This was taken last month, when it was moved from the summit clean room and attached to the camera rotator for the first time. 🔭 Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA
An image of an extremely large camera. The black cylindrical lens os resting on a white stand.
March 6, 2025 at 4:20 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
Here's the team at @vrubinobs.bsky.social sharing a (non-alcoholic) toast to celebrate the test camera taking its first on-sky data One of the most exciting days this year on Cerro Pachon. Here’s to 2025, when the celebrations will ramp up again! Credit: RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R. Gill
December 24, 2024 at 1:52 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
You can read our latest news and catch up on the latest @vrubinobs.bsky.social milestones (such as the installation of the M1M3 mirror, pictured) in our recently published newsletter: lsst-uk.atlassian.net/wiki/x/AQA04
(image: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA #astronomy
A group of people in hardhats and safety clothing are installing a large mirror on the Simonyi Survey Telescope
November 8, 2024 at 2:56 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
Big news from @vrubinobs.bsky.social ! On 24 October the practice camera was used to capture the first on-sky data. Our endeavour to #CaptureTheCosmos is real! Read all about it here: rubinobservatory.org/news/test-ca... (Credit: RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/H. Stockebrand)
The process of taking Rubin’s first data with the Commissioning Camera began well before sunset, with the team readying the telescope, dome, and mirrors. They conducted twilight calibrations while the sky was still dimming, then pointed the telescope towards a bright star to confirm pointing and focus.
November 1, 2024 at 12:08 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
The Rubin Observatory @vrubinobs.bsky.social
will use six different colour filters to detect stellar streams that are around five times more distant than is currently possible. Find out more: rubinobservatory.org/news/rubin-r... #astronomy
IMG: RubinObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J. daSilva, M. Zamani
n artist’s impression of streams of stars around a galaxy. The galaxy occupies most of the image as a fuzzy blue-white oval with spiral features extending out clockwise. The light clouds are interspersed with small dark brown splotches in the same spiral pattern around the center, representing dust clouds. The galaxy’s center is a bright yellow glow. Overlaid on top of and surrounding the galaxy are several criss-crossing, faint tendrils of stars that represent satellite dwarf galaxies and star clusters that have been stretched out into long thin lines. The tendrils have various lengths and widths, though all are arcs rather than complete circles. The background is black.
April 24, 2024 at 2:24 PM
lsstuk.bsky.social
Hi, we're LSST:UK, one of the largest international contributors to the @vrubinobs.bsky.social Legacy Survey of Space and Time. We're excited to be playing a key role in one of the most exciting innovations in astronomy in recent years. Happy to be here!
(image: RubinObs/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand)
Rubin Observatory in a golden sunset, with silver dome glinting in the setting sun's light. We see the observatory's long white service building and vertical silver dome such that the white service building appears pointed slightly to our left. To the left, the brilliantly setting sun glows bright orange, illuminating the landscape in a golden glow. The Chilean desert mountain ridges become more and more opaque as they recede into the distance, creating a layered look.
March 27, 2024 at 4:56 PM
universal-sci.bsky.social
Spectacular: A ''Cosmic Treasure Chest''

Almost every light you see here is an entire galaxy of its own!

(Video by Universal-Sci - Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA)
October 21, 2025 at 10:16 PM
universal-sci.bsky.social
A spectacular view of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory standing proudly on Cerro Pachón in Chile.

Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/P. Horálek (Institute of Physics in Opava)
October 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
universal-sci.bsky.social
Spectacular! A trail of celestial objects spans this view of the Virgo Cluster.

Dominating the scene is NGC 4261, a massive elliptical galaxy in the upper half of the image. In the lower left sits the lenticular galaxy NGC 4281.

(Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA)
October 10, 2025 at 7:19 PM