The Vera C. Rubin Observatory sits on a mountaintop in Chile. Its telescope takes deeper, wider pictures of the sky than any telescope before.

The observatory has an 8.4-meter mirror and the largest digital camera ever built. This camera captures huge areas of space in fine detail.

Scientists spent about two decades planning and building the telescope. It was funded by two science agencies in the United States.

The observatory has already released multiple images to the public. One photo from 2025 showed roughly 10 million galaxies near the Virgo Cluster,* many never seen before.

These millions of galaxies are only a tiny fraction of what the telescope will find. Scientists expect to spot 20 billion galaxies in total.

In June, the observatory launched its main mission, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time.* Over the next 10 years, it will repeatedly scan the sky, creating a giant “movie” of the universe.

The survey will track changing objects like supernovae and asteroids. It could also help explain dark matter and dark energy.

The observatory is named after Vera Rubin, an astronomer who proved dark matter exists. Her work continues through this instrument.

* Virgo Cluster 처녀자리 은하단

* Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) 시공간 유산 탐사