NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory

Rubin will #CaptureTheCosmos in exquisite detail starting in 2026 🌌 Funded by @NSF and @DOEScience. Para español:

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Meet our Solar System's newest dwarf planet candidate: 2026 ED138!

Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier in 2026. Early analysis suggests it's 600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!

🔗 https://t.co/wTOg898zBu

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will observe billions of galaxies over the next 10 years, & volunteers like you will help make sense of what we find.

By classifying galaxies, you can help scientists study how galaxies change over time.

Join at https://t.co/9bYgIiKOiv ➡️ Galaxy Zoo!

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

We need your help!

Galaxies come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. They can be grand spirals, smooth ellipticals, irregular shapes, and everything in between.

But computers aren't always good at identifying these kinds of shapes. That's where you come in!

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

We're back on sky!🌌🔭

After time off-sky for planned maintenance and restoration efforts following recent historic storms in Chile, NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory has resumed observations for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time!

Onward with the ultimate movie of the cosmos!🎬✨

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.”

Happy birthday Carl Sagan, who continues to inspire us to explore our place in the cosmos.

At NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory, that spirit is part of all we do, from making discoveries to giving us more reasons to look up💫

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

POV: You're NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's telescope, and this is your view👀✨

As the dome opens, the camera readies, and the telescope turns toward the night sky, billions of stars and galaxies come into view.

Quite a view to wake up to every night, if we might say so! 🌌

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Cerro Pachón, tiny planet edition ✨🌎

NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory sits high in the Chilean mountains, beneath wide-open skies and some pretty spectacular views.

This 360° perspective gives the mountaintop a whole new look. Not a bad place to call home, if you ask us💙

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

A little perspective from the top of our world🏔️

This view in this NSF @NOIRLabAstro #ImageOfTheWeek looks from the top of NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory's dome.

In addition to great views, Chile also has incredible infrastructure for supporting astronomy & astrophysics research🌎

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

📸: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Happy Halloween and #DarkMatterDay!👻

Dark matter is the perfect cosmic mystery: it's invisible…and can pass right through you 👻

While we can't see it directly and we don't know what it's made of, its gravity affects how light bends & how structures across the Universe form.

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

While NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory won't see dark matter directly, it WILL capture images of the galaxies that dark matter influences.

That data will help scientists study the distribution of all matter across the Universe, both regular and dark.🔭

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Something stirs on the mountain summit... 🎃

The last light before the night shift might look like a villain's lair…NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory waits to scan the void across the southern sky.

Happy Halloween Eve… 🌌👀

📷: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

@NASASolarSystem 🫶🤩🥳

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

🎥, 📸: NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA/R. Proctor

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

#ICYMI: our Solar System has a newly-discovered dwarf planet candidate! Meet 2026 ED138, recently revealed by NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory ☄

Let's get to know this new world a little bit, shall we?

https://t.co/wTOg898zBu

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Worlds like 2026 ED138 bridge the size gap between small asteroids and large planets, helping us understand how different types of objects in our Solar System formed and evolved.

Explore its orbit with Orbitviewer! https://t.co/gXS90c5TdF

[SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory @SLAClab]

Did we find a new dwarf planet?

@VRubinObs has revealed a new dwarf planet candidate that orbits our Sun beyond Pluto! And it may be among the largest and brightest objects discovered in this region of the Solar System: https://t.co/mPcVYVhvXZ

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

@SLAClab 🤩🤩

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

More observations are still needed to confirm its size, but its discovery shows that there are still large objects out there waiting to be found!

This is just the beginning for Rubin 🤩☄️

Learn more: https://t.co/wTOg898zBu

[NSF-DOE Rubin Observatory @VRubinObs]

Meet our Solar System's newest dwarf planet candidate: 2026 ED138!

Orbiting past Pluto, scientists found it in NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory data from earlier in 2026. Early analysis suggests it's 600–1500 km across, one of the largest found past Neptune!

🔗 https://t.co/wTOg898zBu