The largest digital camera ever built has released its first shots of the universe By: Adithi Ramakrishnan, The Associated Press Posted: Last Modified:

NEW YORK (AP) — The largest digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies.

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This article was published 23/06/2025 (440 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK (AP) — The largest digital camera ever built released its first shots of the universe Monday — including colorful nebulas, stars and galaxies.

The LSST Camera being loaded onto a transport cart before installation on the Simonyi Survey Telescope at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Lange)
The LSST Camera being loaded onto a transport cart before installation on the Simonyi Survey Telescope at NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory (RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA/T. Lange)

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, was built to take a deeper look at the night sky, covering hidden corners.

Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy, it will survey the southern sky for the next 10 years.

The observatory’s first look features the vibrant Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth.

A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. A gaggle of galaxies known as the Virgo Cluster were also captured, including two bright blue spirals.

The LSST Camera is installed in the Simonyi Survey telescope. (RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/T. Lange)
The LSST Camera is installed in the Simonyi Survey telescope. (RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/T. Lange)

The observatory hopes to image 20 billion galaxies and discover new asteroids and other celestial objects.

The effort is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, who offered the first tantalizing evidence that a mysterious force called dark matter might be lurking in the universe.

Researchers hope the observatory’s discerning camera may yield clues about this elusive entity along with another called dark energy.

This annotated First Look image of the Virgo Cluster was captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
This annotated First Look image of the Virgo Cluster was captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

This image provided by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory shows 678 separate images taken by the observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. (NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory via AP)
This image provided by the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory shows 678 separate images taken by the observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth. (NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory via AP)

This image offers a closer look at the region surrounding the Lagoon Nebula, as seen in this First Look image captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The Lagoon Nebula is the central pink, kidney bean-shaped area that spans much of the image. At the upper-right is the open star cluster Messier 21. Beneath that is the star-forming Trifid Nebula, known as Messier 20. Further down is the open cluster Bochum 14. Finally, to the bottom-left of the Lagoon Nebula is the globular cluster NGC 6544. (NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)
This image offers a closer look at the region surrounding the Lagoon Nebula, as seen in this First Look image captured by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The Lagoon Nebula is the central pink, kidney bean-shaped area that spans much of the image. At the upper-right is the open star cluster Messier 21. Beneath that is the star-forming Trifid Nebula, known as Messier 20. Further down is the open cluster Bochum 14. Finally, to the bottom-left of the Lagoon Nebula is the globular cluster NGC 6544. (NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)

The night sky dazzles over Rubin Observatory. (RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand)
The night sky dazzles over Rubin Observatory. (RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/DOE/NSF/AURA/H. Stockebrand)

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

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