Every 40 seconds of nighttime for the next 10 years, a camera the size of a small car will capture strikingly detailed images of the southern sky, stitching together a time-lapse panorama of intergalactic evolution that could help unlock some of the universe’s lingering mysteries.The historic effort, called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST), began on Tuesday, according to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, the state-of-the-art facility in Chile that houses the world’s largest digital camera weighing 6,600 pounds.During its decade-long study, a series of colored filters will give the camera superhuman vision as it scans the sky each night and creates a living image of how celestial objects — from asteroids to supernovae — morph and move.AdvertisementAdvertisementThe “color-rich” images of exploding stars, black holes and cosmic collisions will also help direct the attention of other observatories around the world, according to a news release, allowing various institutions to work in tandem to collect wholistic observations of notable celestial events.The Rubin Observatory team began taking preliminary images with the LSST Camera on April 15, 2025. – H. Stockebrand/RubinObs/NSF/DOE/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURAThe project has several goals, including creating a new inventory of our solar system and the Milky Way, as well as chipping away at the mystery of dark matter by observing the distorted light of distant galaxies.“Today, we begin filming the greatest cosmic movie ever made,” said Brian Stone, who is currently performing the duties of the vacant US National Science Foundation director role, in a Tuesday statement. “This moment reflects decades of vision, innovation and the power of federal investment.”Bringing the universe to lifeJointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, the $800 million Rubin Observatory sits perched on the 8,800-foot-high (2,682-meter-high) summit of the Cerro Pachón mountain in northern Chile. The site’s dark skies and dry air make it one of the world’s most optimal spots for stargazing.AdvertisementAdvertisementAfter the observatory captured its first images last year, the LSST was anticipated to begin by early 2026. But checkouts took longer than expected.This image combines 678 separate images taken by the Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. – NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory“The decision to officially begin the LSST was made after a period of system optimization and a careful operational review of technical readiness, data system performance and scientific validation,” said Željko Ivezić, head of LSST, in a statement. “Important factors that played a role in this decision included image quality, effective survey speed, system uptime and reliability, and calibration accuracy.”Each night, the observatory’s camera will capture thousands of images, completing a full scan of the southern sky every few days. Throughout its decade-long survey, the telescope will be able to return to the same spot in the night sky hundreds of times, creating a living image of how each patch of observable star systems and galaxies evolves. The long-ter …
