Can we hear a little commotion for the AuxTel? 👏 Rubin's 1.2m Auxiliary Telescope measures how Earth’s atmosphere affects incoming light by monitoring well-studied stars. Scientists use this information to make Rubin data better — with a facility this precise, every bit counts! 🔭🧪

Wishing you a bright and starry holiday season! ✨ We hope you celebrate, relax, and spend time with loved ones. And with Skysynth, you can enhance your festive cheer by experiencing Rubin data through sound! 🔭🧪 Press play and enjoy a cosmic soundtrack ✨ skyviewer.app/skysynth

The sky above Rubin is giving some serious festive-season glitter vibes ✨ NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's dome is coated with aluminum, which reflects sunlight during the day and cools off slowly at night. This prevents thermal turbulence near the telescope, keeping images crisp. 🔭🧪

May your holidays be full of light — and just the right amount of dark matter 🌌 Happy Holidays from all of us at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! We hope your festive season sparkles with cosmic wonder ✨🔭🧪

Happy December Solstice! 🌞 It’s summer at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory in Chile! Wildflowers? Blooming. Skies? Clear. Sun? Vibing. ☀️ Sending warm thoughts to the northern hemisphere! ❄️

*Waves hi* 👋 *Waves bye* 👋 Back in July, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory captured this view of Comet 3I/ATLAS: the third interstellar object ever spotted in our Solar System. 3I/ATLAS is still zipping through our Solar System, coming closest to Earth today, 19 December! 🌎 🔭🧪

📬 “You’ve got data.” We're wrapping up #RubinRecap2025 with one more highlight: scientists (and you!) got access to some early NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data! 🔭🧪 This year, Rubin: 🧵

One Rubin image = up to ~10,000 alerts! 🌌🔭 From supernovae to asteroids, comets, and more, Rubin will capture the Universe in action every night. ☄️✨ See what kinds of events Rubin will alert us to: https://rubinobservatory.org/explore/how-rubin-works/alerts

The one where we showed the world what Rubin can do...and, wow 🤩 On June 23, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory unveiled its First Look images! These large, detailed images showed why Rubin's 10-year survey will revolutionize our understanding of the Universe. 🌌 #RubinRecap2025 🔭🧪

A moment we've all been waiting for.... NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will be open for public visits starting in January 2026! 🔭🧪 Visits will be hosted by NOIRLab, and reservations are open now — book your spot at https://noirlab.edu/public/visits/cerro-pachon-rubin/

A 3200-megapixel eye to the sky for the first time! 👀 On April 15, the LSST Camera captured its first images of the night sky. Hundreds of staff watched as the very first pixels from a complete NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory appeared on screen! 🎉 #RubinRecap2025 🔭🧪

Sesame Street has Big Bird. Cerro Pachón has BIG birds. Meet the Andean condors: the largest bird of prey in the world with wingspans up to 3.3m (11ft) 🦅 They can be found around NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory on Cerro Pachón, and throughout the region circling the skies and looking for prey. 🔭🧪

The final piece🧩 In March, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's 3200-MP LSST Camera was installed! #RubinRecap2025 LSST Camera is the largest digital camera ever built, and getting it into place felt like snapping in the last puzzle piece. Rubin finally had its eyes, nearly ready to open.

We kicked off 2025 in style 😎 Our #RubinRecap2025 starts with the first image released from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Commissioning Camera in January. It captured a small slice of sky, but showed something big: Rubin’s telescope, camera, and software were working together! 🔭🧪

We'll take "News in 2025" for $1000 🙋‍♀️ Did you catch NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's recent moment on Jeopardy? We’ve now reached the “appearing in trivia clues” phase of our evolution 🤩 Perfect timing as our team wraps up the last few months of prep for the 10-year survey! 🔭🧪

Step right up to the Universe’s funhouse mirror! 🎪✨ This warped view comes from strong gravitational lensing — when a massive object bends and magnifies the light from something behind it, sometimes revealing galaxies that would otherwise stay hidden! 🌌🔭🧪

A purple sky over Cerro Pachón 💜 The sky over NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory and its 1.2-meter Auxiliary Telescope glitters like no other place on Earth. ✨ At Rubin's site in Chile 🇨🇱, the air is dry, the skies are dark and clear, and the Milky Way shines in all its glory. 🌌

🔭 Meet Eduardo Serrano, Site Manager at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! With 30 years' experience managing construction of observatories, Eduardo shares what makes Rubin's 350-ton telescope unique: silent, high-speed movements and a huge field of view. 🎥: https://youtu.be/n-7IUnnIOLQ

Stars appear to sweep over NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory in this long exposure thanks to Earth's rotation. But Rubin will soon capture objects truly in motion! Over the next 10 years, it'll spot millions of changes each night & generate more data than all human writing in history🤯

Spot the cosmic imposters! 🔍 Help fine-tune NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s alert system and figure out which detected changes in the sky are cosmic events vs. imposters with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse🧐 Join now: zooniverse.org/rubin 🔭🧪

Ok everyone let's get in formation 💃 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory’s image of the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae captures several dazzling open star clusters. 🌌💫 These clusters are young, loosely bound families of stars that will eventually drift apart over millions of years. 🔭🧪 🧵

What does the fox say?🦊 Today, we’re showing off our favorite pictures of culpeo foxes we’ve spotted around Cerro Pachón, home of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. 📸 💡Fun fact: While these little guys look like foxes (and are called foxes), they’re actually more closely related to wolves and jackals!🔭

🦃🍂 Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory! 🔭 Today (and all the time), we’re grateful for clear skies, operational telescopes, and the scientists, engineers, summit staff, educators, and everyone in between making it possible for Rubin to #CaptureTheCosmos 🌌✨

🌕✨ Moonrise, meet the Milky Way 🌌 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory enjoys pristine views of our galaxy and the entire southern sky thanks to its high, dry, and dark site 🌌 In just months, Rubin will begin its decade-long survey, capturing the cosmos in unprecedented detail 🔭

We're blue-da-ba-dee-da-ba-di because blue is the color of cosmic creation! 💙 In these snapshots from NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, brilliant blue galaxies are bursting with star formation, lighting up the Universe with newborn stars. 🌌✨ 🔭🧪

We're getting ever-closer to starting to film the greatest cosmic movie ever made! 🎬 The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is the decade-long survey that NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will carry out, scanning the southern sky in greater detail than ever before. 🔭🧪

Officially in our Operations era✨ NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory has concluded its Construction phase & entered Early Operations. While day-to-day work continues, this milestone marks the home stretch of final fine-tuning ahead of the start of the ten-year LSST, just months away! 🔭🧪

Meet Observing Specialist Gonzalo Aravena! 🎉 In this video, he reflects on happiness with life in La Serena since joining NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, and how Rubin’s vast scale and scientific potential continue to impress him 🔭🧪 🎥 Meet Gonzalo: https://youtu.be/4p6HDY-4YiE

Something’s a little sus… 👀 Flares, flashes, and fakes — not every change in the night sky is what it seems 💥✨ Test your skills with Rubin Difference Detectives on Zooniverse! Help Rubin scientists spot cosmic events (and catch the imposters). 🌌🔍 👉 zooniverse.org/rubin

Two countries, one observatory 🌎🔭 Mechanical Engineer Margaux Lopez started at SLAC in California and moved to Chile in 2019 to help build the NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. 🔭🧪 Learn about the challenges and curiosity that drive her work! 🎥 Meet Margaux https://youtu.be/Lk8bgNQtcEo

Today isn't just #Halloween🎃, it's also #DarkMatterDay! Dark matter interacts via gravity, so while we can’t see it directly, we know it’s there. NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's 10-year survey will measure distortions in billions of galaxies, revealing where dark matter is hiding.🔭🧪

A decade of discovery and dedication! 🌎🔭 Sandrine Thomas, Deputy Director for NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory Construction, reflects on her path — moving from France to the US, traveling to Chile, and sharing her work with her family. 🎥 Meet Sandrine https://youtu.be/_r-e0kzYjf4

Some galaxies love to hog the spotlight, but sometimes we see past them! 🔭 In this image from the #RubinFirstLook Cosmic Treasure Chest, a distant galaxy peeks from behind a large foreground galaxy. This "layered" view helps scientists understand the 3D structure of the Universe 🌌🔭🧪

What if you could capture a two-hour sunset in a single photo? This composite was built from ~6,000 photos taken on a night in mid-July, each contributing just one column of pixels. Look closely and you’ll spot stars starting to twinkle in the upper left as the night begins ✨🔭🧪

We come with receipts🧾 Tidal tails are cosmic “receipts” of galactic drama, showing who collided with whom. Rubin's camera is sharp enough to catch wind of even the faintest intergalactic tea. No need to worry about "pics or it didn't happen" with Rubin keeping a close eye 😎 🔭🧪

Fast, precise, unstoppable! ⚡🔭 Freddy Muñoz, who leads NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory's mechanical team on the summit, discusses how the speed of Rubin's Simonyi Survey Telescope will let us capture more objects in the Universe than ever before. 🔭🧪 🎥 Meet Freddy https://youtu.be/Vg7ZgU4y-dg

How do Rubin alerts work? 🌌📲 Think of Rubin Observatory as a friend constantly scrolling through the Universe’s social media feed. Every minute, they refresh and see what’s new — an asteroid has moved, a star has changed in brightness...or maybe even exploded in a supernova. 🔭🧪

Eye on the southern sky 🌌 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is like a cosmic watchtower, capturing the entire visible sky every few nights. Before, scientists would spend their careers looking for supernovae. But Rubin will accomplish in minutes or hours what used to take a lifetime! 🔭🧪

Designing how Rubin decides what to observe and when🔭 Meet Tiago Ribeiro, Scheduler Scientist and Software Architect at NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory. In this video, he shares his path from professor in Brazil to shaping large-scale projects like Rubin. 🎥 https://youtu.be/EnxGm5MtXjE

50+ years supporting astronomy in Chile 🌌🇨🇱 Hernán Bustos Binvignat, recently-retired Deputy Director at AURA in Chile — the organization that manages NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory — reflects on a career dedicated to world-class astronomy. 🔭🧪 🎥 Meet Hernán https://youtu.be/AoXYTPHsQwE

Golden hour hits different above 2600 meters. ✨🌅 NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory basks in that sunset ✨glow✨ at its site on Cerro Pachón. And with over 300 clear nights on average per year here, that's a lot of sunset basking we get to do! 🔭🧪

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory is incredible, but we try to stay down to Earth...😉 How does Rubin take sharp images of the cosmos from the ground? Computer-controlled actuators adjust its mirrors and camera against wind or gravity in real time, keeping everything perfectly aligned. 💨🪞✨

It's International #ObserveTheMoon Night! 🌙 The Moon is dazzlingly bright — so bright that NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory will never point at it. But there are many Solar System objects that are incredibly faint, and that’s where Rubin shines.🔭🧪

Is dark matter a carb? No, Gretchen, it's not, but we're trying to figure out what it is! At 85% percent of the Universe's mass and energy, it's sort of like Gretchen's hair: big and full of secrets. 🔭🧪 📷: W. O'Mullane

Keeping NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory running takes critical systems working seamlessly behind the scenes ⚡🔧 Franco Colleoni, Electronic Engineer, shares the rewarding aspects of his work on Rubin's vital systems. 🔭🧪 🎥 Meet Franco: https://youtu.be/NMPBIBF2vdw

You glow girl! ✨ At NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, the secret to achieving a glowing-from-within look is our calibration screen.🔭 🧪 It's glamorous, we know 💅 🧵

You might think the night sky is the paparazzi magnet at Cerro Pachón, but it's actually the viscachas. (Ok, it's both.) These local celebrities are a favorite sighting among observatory scientists — they even bask in the sunset glow just like observers do before the night! 🔭🧪

From mining⛏️, to construction🦺, to leading observatory safety operations👷‍♀️ Meet Sandra Romero, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's Safety Lead. 🔭 Her job? Keeping Rubin safe for everyone who works here, from construction activities to science operations✨ 🎥 Meet Sandra: https://youtu.be/3gJMxs2nFnQ

To celebrate the approaching end of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's construction period, we're reminiscing through the eyes of some of our talented staff. Join us for the #RubinConstructionArchives series, every Tuesday and Thursday on Youtube through November! 🔭 🧪 youtube.com/RubinObservatory

Are you more of a spring🌺 or winter❄️ palette? 🎨 Today is the September #equinox, the first day of spring in the Southern hemisphere. That means we’re swapping the cool, crisp tones of snow and winter for the fresh, warm hues of spring just around the corner.💐 🔭 🧪