A telescope image of the night sky.

Action! NSF鈥揇OE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Begins Capturing the Greatest Cosmic Movie Ever Made

The 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time has officially started, marking the beginning of a new era in astronomy and astrophysics

Heidi Opdyke

The wait is over: NSF鈥揇OE Rubin Observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy鈥檚 Office of Science, is now capturing the cosmos in unprecedented detail, transforming the way we study the dynamic Universe.

From a mountaintop in Chile, under clear dark skies, has begun the revolutionary . The ten-year survey is Rubin鈥檚 signature campaign to create the most comprehensive, cinematic record of the Universe in history.

Rubin Observatory is a U.S. government facility jointly operated by and DOE鈥檚 National Accelerator Laboratory. NOIRLab is managed by the .

Over the next 10 years, Rubin will relentlessly observe the entire southern sky every few nights to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the universe. This long-awaited milestone is the culmination of years of effort by thousands of people around the world.

This infographic showcases the numbers behind NSF鈥揇OE Rubin Observatory鈥檚 Legacy Survey of Space and Time 鈥� a major new exploration of the night sky that will transform our understanding of the Universe.

天美传媒 has been part of that global effort for more than two decades, helping lay the scientific and computational groundwork that makes Rubin鈥檚 discoveries possible. Researchers in 天美传媒鈥檚 McWilliams Center for Cosmology and Astrophysics have contributed to the project from its early conceptual stages through today, developing advanced algorithms, data-processing techniques, and open-source software designed to handle Rubin鈥檚 unprecedented data stream. That work continues now through initiatives like the LSST Interdisciplinary Network for Collaboration and Computing (LINCC) Frameworks program, which brings together scientists and engineers to transform Rubin鈥檚 nightly torrent of observations into usable insights for the worldwide astronomy community.

Today鈥檚 announcement follows the celebratory event that took place in June 2025, which was followed by final commissioning work, an operational readiness review and the .

鈥淭oday, we begin filming the greatest cosmic movie ever made,鈥� said Brian Stone, performing the duties of the NSF Director. 鈥淭his moment reflects decades of vision, innovation, and the power of federal investment in science through the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy. Every night, NSF鈥揇OE Rubin Observatory will expand the frontiers of knowledge and strengthen America's global leadership in science and innovation.鈥�

鈥淲ith the launch of the 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time, NSF鈥揇OE Rubin Observatory is opening a new window on the Universe. It is embarking on a mission that will redefine modern cosmology and astrophysics,鈥� said Dar铆o Gil, under secretary for science at the U.S. Department of Energy. 鈥淲ith its world-class design and tools, Rubin Observatory will capture the dynamic nature of our cosmos and reveal unimagined insights into our Universe鈥檚 biggest mysteries, from our own Solar System to the very structure of the Universe. By seeking to understand the enigmatic phenomena of dark energy and dark matter, we are not just observing the stars; we are striving to grasp the fundamental laws that govern our existence.鈥�

鈥淚t is amazing and humbling to be here at this time and place as we start the Legacy Survey of Space and Time, after more than two decades of incredible work by our dedicated team,鈥� said Bob Blum, director of Rubin Observatory at NSF NOIRLab. 鈥淩ubin Observatory is for everyone; the LSST will change how we do astronomy and astrophysics, allowing researchers anywhere to participate in cutting-edge science.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 taken 20 years of hard science, engineering, and more to get to the point where we can call 鈥榓ction鈥� as we start rolling on this blockbuster movie of the Universe,鈥� said Phil Marshall, deputy director of Rubin Operations for SLAC. 鈥淢illions of alerts in just the last couple of months show that Rubin is up and running as a discovery machine. Now we鈥檙e putting it all together.鈥�

鈥淭he decision to officially begin the LSST was made after a period of system optimization and a careful operational review of technical readiness, data system performance, and scientific validation,鈥� said 沤eljko Ivezi膰, Head of LSST. Important factors that played a role in this decision included image quality, effective survey speed, system uptime and reliability, and calibration accuracy.

This infographic shows how combining multiple exposures reveals far more detail than a single exposure can capture. By adding together many Rubin Observatory images of the same field, we can see more light, bring out fainter objects, and create a sharper, more detailed view of the Universe.

Rubin Observatory鈥檚 unique design combines enormous light-collecting power, the ability to move rapidly across the sky, and a wide field of view. Its 3200-megapixel camera 鈥� the largest digital camera in the world 鈥� is now capturing a new, detailed image approximately every 40 seconds. Operating with this speed and sensitivity, Rubin functions as a unified, well-tuned system capable of catching faint objects and fleeting events with remarkable reliability and consistency every night. Visit to follow the status of the LSST in real time.

Rubin is bringing the Universe to life, illuminating a treasure trove of discoveries: pulsating stars, supernova explosions, the fossil record of galaxies, clues to the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, and entirely new phenomena we鈥檝e never seen before. Some cosmic processes unfold slowly, unpredictably, or incredibly rarely, which is why a 10-year survey is essential. By returning to each point in the sky about 800 times over a decade, Rubin data is providing the scientific community with deep, time-rich views needed to uncover subtle events, capture moving objects and study the accelerating expansion of the Universe.

Not only is Rubin helping to unlock the mysteries of the distant Universe, it is also the most powerful Solar System discovery machine ever built. By taking about a thousand images every night, Rubin is compiling an astonishingly detailed census of our Solar System, including millions of asteroids and comets. In just a month and a half, during early optimization surveys, Rubin discovered over , including 33 near-Earth objects and 380 trans-Neptunian objects.

Rubin also will advance opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy, which is the study of cosmic events using multiple signals such as light, gravitational waves, and cosmic rays. The observatory鈥檚 rapid, color-rich observations of transients such as stellar explosions, actively feeding black holes, and collisions between compact objects will guide telescopes around the world to follow up on these fleeting events.

Each night, Rubin is collecting approximately 10 terabytes of data and producing as many as seven million alerts of changes in the night sky. These alerts stream to 鈥� automated systems that sort and classify these changes so scientists can act quickly.

When the LSST is complete, the final dataset will contain billions of objects with trillions of measurements, all accessible through regular data releases. This is the first time so much astronomical data will be available to so many people, opening the door to new kinds of discovery by both scientists and the public. Rubin invites anyone in the world to engage with its data and explore the dynamic Universe in ways never before possible.