On June 23, 2025, the world got its first look at images from one of the most powerful telescopes ever built: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. Perched high in the Chilean Andes, the observatory now takes hundreds of images of the southern hemisphere sky every night. Over the next 10 years, it is creating the most complete time-lapse record of our Universe, tracking supernovae, asteroids, and galaxies as they evolve in real time.

At the heart of the observatory lies a remarkable piece of engineering: a digital camera the size of a small car, weighing over three tonnes. With a staggering 3,200 megapixels, each image it captures has enough detail to spot a golf ball from 25km away. To capture the universe in colour, the camera uses enormous filters that allow through different types of light, from ultraviolet to near-infrared.

The observatory is equipped with the world’s largest digital camera, with each image so detailed it would take hundreds of UHD TVs to display.

Credit: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA

The observatory is designed to tackle some of astronomy’s biggest questions. By measuring how galaxies cluster and move, it will help scientists investigate the nature of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the accelerating expansion of the Universe. It will also map the “scaffolding” of the cosmos to understand dark matter, the invisible substance making up 27% of the universe.

Closer to home, Rubin helps find and track millions of asteroids, warning of potential collisions. It also captures rare cosmic events like the collision of neutron stars. However, this powerful eye on the sky faces a modern challenge: light pollution from satellite mega-constellations. Researchers are actively developing tools and collaborating with satellite operators to mitigate these bright streaks and protect the quality of the data.