Astronomers use powerful telescopes, often housed at observatories, to peer into the farthest depths of our universe. To do this successfully, observatories often have to be placed at high elevations, away from light pollution, which is why the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Cerro Pachón in Chile sits at 5,200 feet (1,600 meters) above sea level.
From their high perches, these observatories take clearer photos of our universe, providing more details about other galaxies, asteroids, and other structures.
What is it?
Recently, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory revealed its first images of our universe, using the LSST camera (LSSTCam), the world's largest digital camera ever constructed. At roughly the size of a compact car, the LSST camera works with the 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope to photograph hard-to-see images. These images could help reveal the presence of dark matter, which makes up 85% of our universe but is essentially invisible. The LSST camera covers a space around the size of 45 full moons in our sky in just one image.
In the image release, one of the photographs shared with the public was this picture of the Virgo cluster, revealing two bright spiral galaxies and three merging galaxies, along with many stars.
Where is it?
The Virgo cluster is around 53.8 million light-years from Earth.
Why is it amazing?
In just this one image, there are estimated to be around 10 million galaxies! Incredibly, this is only 0.05% of the number of around 20 billion galaxies that Rubin will have imaged by the end of its 10-year mission, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), which will investigate dark energy and dark matter in the universe.
Presenting these images to the world, the researchers mentioned that this image of the Virgo cluster was created by projecting data onto the image to help give it a three-dimensional look. It is one of many pictures that will continue to be shared as the Rubin Observatory scans the skies at speeds 10 to 100 times faster than similar sized telescopes.
With this innovation, images like the Virgo cluster are revealing more intricate structures in our universe, and they're only the beginning of what's to come.
Want to learn more?
You can read more about the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and galaxy clusters as astronomers continue to study our universe.
