NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Test Camera Sees the Sky

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory passed its first end-to-end engineering test using a low-resolution testing camera known as the Commissioning Camera. The Commissioning Camera will later be replaced with the much higher resolution LSST Camera, the largest digital camera ever built, which Rubin Observatory will use to conduct the most comprehensive data-gathering mission in the history of astronomy — the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time. Rubin is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

The mood in the observatory control room was electric as Rubin’s first on-sky data were captured by the test camera and transferred successfully from the observatory in Chile to the U.S. Data Facility at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. This moment was the culmination of decades of hard work by the Rubin team. Those present in Chile gathered at the base of the Simonyi Telescope to celebrate the major milestone.

This engineering achievement demonstrates that Rubin Observatory now has a complete and functioning telescope, with light from the stars traveling through the telescope optics, being captured by Rubin’s Commissioning Camera, and appearing on the Rubin teams’ computer screens as a digital image. Rubin’s Commissioning Camera was designed to be physically the same size as the planned LSST Camera, but the detector itself is about 20 times smaller: just 144 megapixels compared to the 3200-megapixel science camera. The test camera will enable the Rubin team to verify key components of the system and resolve issues before installation of the actual camera that will be used for science.

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. At 9:53 p.m. local time in Chile, with the sky fully dark, the team prompted the Commissioning Camera to take a 30-second exposure.

Once the team heard that the image had been successfully received in California, cheers erupted from Rubin staff members in Chile, as well as everyone who had gathered at various sites and online to participate in this momentous event.

Having reached this milestone, the engineering team will now focus on precisely aligning and shaping the mirrors to achieve optimal image quality with the Commissioning Camera. They will then test the pipelines that process Rubin data and make the data available to scientists. At the same time, work will continue on preparing the LSST Camera for installation on the telescope — expected in January 2025. A commissioning period of approximately six months will follow, leading to Rubin’s first public release of astronomical images in mid-2025. 

This important step brings us closer to the start of Rubin’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which will revolutionize our quest to explore the cosmos. Rubin will create the ultimate movie of the night sky using the largest camera ever built — repeatedly scanning the sky for a decade to create an ultra-wide ultra-high-definition time-lapse record. This unique movie will bring the night sky to life, yielding a treasure trove of discoveries: asteroids and comets, pulsating stars, and supernova explosions. With Rubin data we will all be able to understand our Universe better, chronicle its evolution, delve into the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and reveal answers to questions we have yet to imagine.

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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, is a groundbreaking new astronomy and astrophysics observatory under construction on Cerro Pachón in Chile, with first light expected in 2025. It is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who provided the first convincing evidence for the existence of dark matter. Using the largest camera ever built, Rubin will repeatedly scan the sky for 10 years and create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of our Universe.

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is a joint initiative of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science (DOE/SC). Its primary mission is to carry out the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, providing an unprecedented data set for scientific research supported by both agencies. Rubin is operated jointly by NSF NOIRLab and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. NSF NOIRLab is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), and SLAC is operated by Stanford University. 

France provides key support to the construction and operations of Rubin Observatory through contributions from CNRS/IN2P3. Rubin Observatory gratefully acknowledges additional contributions from more than 40 international organizations and teams.

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science. NSF supports basic research and people to create knowledge that transforms the future.

The DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

NSF NOIRLab (U.S. National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), the U.S. center for ground-based optical-infrared astronomy, operates the International Gemini Observatory (a facility of NSF, NRC–Canada, ANID–Chile, MCTIC–Brazil, MINCyT–Argentina, and KASI–Republic of Korea), Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), the Community Science and Data Center (CSDC), and Vera C. Rubin Observatory (in cooperation with DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory). It is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with NSF and is headquartered in Tucson, Arizona. The astronomical community is honored to have the opportunity to conduct astronomical research on I’oligam Du’ag (Kitt Peak) in Arizona, on Maunakea in Hawai‘i, and on Cerro Tololo and Cerro Pachón in Chile. We recognize and acknowledge the very significant cultural role and reverence that these sites have to the Tohono O’odham Nation, to the Native Hawaiian community, and to the local communities in Chile, respectively.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is a vibrant multiprogram laboratory that explores how the Universe works at the biggest, smallest, and fastest scales and invents powerful tools used by scientists around the globe. With research spanning particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology, materials, chemistry, bio- and energy sciences and scientific computing, SLAC helps solve real-world problems and advance the interests of the nation.

SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

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Links

• Click here to see visuals submitted by members of the Rubin team who were present for this event
• Rubin Observatory announcement
• Vera C. Rubin Observatory website
• Vera C. Rubin Observatory images
• More Rubin images
• Rubin videos
• Rubin multimedia resources