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First images from world’s largest digital camera leave astronomers in awe

The Rubin Observatory in Chile will map the entire southern sky every three to four nights.
By
  1. Davide Castelvecchi
Clouds of orange-brown gas, with a large pink nebula in the foreground and a smaller pink nebula in the background. Stars are visible through gaps in the clouds.

The Trifid Nebula (top right) and the Lagoon Nebula, in an image made from 678 separate exposures taken at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Credit: NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile has unveiled its first images, leaving astronomers in awe of the unprecedented capabilities of the observatory’s 3,200-megapixel digital camera — the largest in the world. The images were created from shots taken during a trial that started in April, when construction of the observatory’s Simonyi Survey Telescope was completed.

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Nature 643, 18-19 (2025)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01973-5

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