Week 26, 2025: The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile Releases its First Light Images!
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the Milky Way Galaxy, 2022
On 23 June 2025, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's 8.4-m Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) has released its first light images as part of its commissioning phase which began on October 2024. The telescope is equipped with the world's largest digital camera ever built, which is capable of producing 3,200 megapixel images which would require at least 400 4K-definition television screens if it were displayed on their original size.
The observatory is expected to produce at least 20 TB of data each night as it observes the entire southern sky for the next 10 years.
Source: Astronomy Magazine
The First Light Images from the LSST
The Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae
The Virgo Galactic Cluster
Another view of the Virgo Galactic Cluster