Vera C. Rubin Observatory
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile is a large survey telescope expected to discover millions of new asteroids.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory sits on Cerro Pachón in the Chilean Andes. It is named after the American astronomer Vera Rubin, whose work provided key evidence for dark matter. Its 8.4-metre telescope is paired with the largest digital camera ever built for astronomy, with about 3.2 billion pixels.
The observatory released its first images in June 2025 and is starting a ten-year project called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. It will photograph the whole southern sky every few nights, catching anything that moves or changes. In its first images alone it found more than 2,000 previously unknown asteroids.
Over the decade, Rubin is expected to discover millions of new asteroids and many thousands of near-Earth objects, as well as comets and, perhaps, interstellar visitors. This will greatly improve our census of potentially hazardous bodies and help link meteorite falls to their source regions in space.
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Level: Explorer Ages 10 and up