See the First Images of a Star-Studded Sky From the Largest Camera Ever Built

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently released images and video clips from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory—which is equipped with an 8.4-meter telescope and the largest camera ever built—showing light from millions of distant stars and galaxies.

The images document just over 10 hours of test observations from the start of the observatory's decade-long mission. Later this year, the observatory will repeatedly scan the sky to create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition, time-lapse record of the universe, a project known as Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The imagery will allow scientists to better understand dark matter and dark energy, create an inventory of the solar system, map the Milky Way, and more.

During a press conference on Monday that was broadcast on its YouTube channel, the NSF shared images and a video made from over 1,100 images captured by the observatory. The video begins with a detailed look at two galaxies, then zooms out to showcase about 10 million galaxies—roughly 0.05 percent of the 20 billion galaxies Rubin will observe over 10 years. The full image would span 400 Ultra HD TVs, the foundation explained during the conference.

While ground- and space-based telescopes spot about 20,000 asteroids each year, the observatory is expected to uncover millions within its first two years, according to the NSF. It has already discovered 2,104 asteroids, including seven near-Earth asteroids, that have never been seen before.

The observatory can scan the sky 10 to 100 times faster than comparable telescopes, allowing it to produce unprecedented imagery. The NSF explained during the press conference that it is like the speed of your car compared to the speed of an airplane.

Located in the Andes on the top of Cerro Pachon in Chile, the observatory is set to make the first official scientific observations of the Southern Hemisphere’s sky on July 4. The telescope’s namesake, American astronomer Vera C. Rubin, provided some of the first evidence that dark matter existed. In Rubin’s honor, the telescope will continue her pioneering work.