In the early 1600s, Dutch spectacle maker Jan Lippershey discovered that combining lenses could magnify distant objects. Galileo Galilei quickly improved the designs and became the first to explore the heavens, revealing the moon’s craters, Jupiter’s moons and the rings of Saturn.

Over the centuries, telescopes evolved from simple lens combinations to massive ground-based observatories with enormous mirrors, and eventually to space-based instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope that eliminated Earth’s atmospheric interference. Today’s cutting-edge telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, use advanced technology to look deeper into space than ever before.

Among the astronomers who used these powerful instruments to revolutionize our view of the universe was Vera Rubin, whose groundbreaking observations in the 1970s would shake the very foundations of physics. Working with increasingly sophisticated telescopes, Rubin studied the rotation of spiral galaxies, expecting to confirm what seemed like basic physics: that stars farther from the center of a galaxy should orbit more slowly, just as outer planets in our solar system move more leisurely than inner ones.

Instead, her precise measurements revealed something utterly unexpected: stars at the edges of galaxies were moving far too fast, as if held in place by invisible matter that astronomers couldn’t see. This discovery of what we now call dark matter didn’t just add a new chapter to astronomy, it revealed that the vast majority of the universe consists of a mysterious, unseen substance that continues to puzzle us today.

Now, a new-generation telescope bearing Rubin’s name is poised to continue her revolutionary work. Enter the Vera C. Rubin Observatory that has been under construction in Chile’s Atacama Desert. It will conduct the most comprehensive survey of the night sky ever attempted, photographing the entire visible southern sky every few nights for ten years.

This technological marvel, equipped with the world’s largest digital camera containing 3.2 billion pixels, won’t just search for the subtle effects of dark matter but will catalog billions of stars and galaxies, track dangerous asteroids, and monitor the universe’s constant changes in real time. When it finally begins operations, the Rubin Observatory will generate more astronomical data in its first month than all previous telescopes combined have collected throughout history. That includes my images too.

The telescope features an 8.4-meter primary mirror with a three-mirror design that provides an exceptionally wide 3.5-degree field of view, seven times the area of the full moon. At its core is the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera, the world’s largest digital camera composed of 189 individual CCD sensors, weighing in at 3,200 kilograms and operating at -100°C to minimize electronic noise.

Located at 2,647 meters elevation on Chile’s Cerro Pachón, the observatory’s design eliminates traditional mirror obstructions while delivering sharp images across its entire field of view. It can slew between targets in just five seconds and will operate using six optical filters, completing a full sky survey every three nights with 15-second exposures. Over its 10-year mission, it will catalog an estimated 20 billion galaxies and 17 billion stars.

It’s incredible that it’s been just over 400 years since our first look at the universe through Galileo’s telescope. We are now about to perhaps hit another incredible milestone as the astronomical community eagerly awaits another historic moment.

On 23 June 2025 at 15:00 UTC, the Rubin Observatory will unveil its first spectacular images in what they’re calling the “First Look” event. This event will be live-streamed via YouTube, allowing people worldwide to witness this exciting moment together. It represents more than just another technological achievement; it symbolizes our relentless pursuit to understand the universe, carrying forward Vera Rubin’s legacy of discovery into an age where the observatory that carries her name will give us a whole new view of the universe.