Rubin Observatory: the world’s largest digital camera opens its eye
A telescope designed not to stare at one patch of sky, but to film the whole southern sky night after night.
First light
On 23 June 2025 the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile released its first images, after more than two decades of work on the summit of Cerro Pachón.
A camera the size of a car
The 3,200-megapixel LSST camera is the largest digital camera ever built, roughly the size of a small car and weighing about 2,800 kg. Each image covers an area of sky equal to about 45 full Moons.
The first images
One image combined 678 exposures taken over about seven hours to reveal the Trifid and Lagoon nebulae. In roughly ten hours of test observations the observatory captured millions of galaxies and stars and thousands of asteroids.
The mission ahead
Over ten years, the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will scan the southern sky every night and is expected to observe about 20 billion galaxies, creating a “movie” of the universe that records every change.
Why repeated surveys matter
Comparing tonight’s image with earlier ones reveals what changed: a moving asteroid, an exploding star or a flickering galaxy. That helps planetary defence, the study of transient events and research into dark matter and dark energy.
Sources
Original Vemetto explainer in English, adapted from our Arabic page. Last reviewed: 9 November 2026.
Questions and practical notes
How amateurs can take part
- Join citizen-science projects that use survey data.
- Learn to classify galaxies and transients on educational platforms.
- Follow official observatory announcements for public data releases.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the observatory?
On Cerro Pachón in Chile.
What is LSST?
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a ten-year survey of the southern sky.
Can the public see the images?
The first images were released publicly, and data products are shared under the observatory’s policies.