New Observatory Captures More Than Half a Million Galaxies in a Single ImageSkip to Content

Search<br>Search<br>Log InSubscribe<br>Nautilus Facebook<br>Nautilus X (formerly Twitter)<br>Nautilus TikTok<br>Nautilus YouTube<br>Nautilus Bluesky<br>Nautilus Instagram

Advertisement

AstronomyNew Observatory Captures More Than Half a Million Galaxies in a Single Image<br>The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is off to a fantastic start

JC

By Jake Currie

9:00 AM CDT on August 8, 2026<br>Add Nautilus to Google

At the heart of Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory is the largest camera human beings have ever built. Around the size of a small car, this behemoth weighs more than three tons, and the images it captures are even more impressive—to display the 3,200-megapixel pictures in their full glory would take hundreds of ultra high-definition screens.<br>Featured Video

Since it came online in 2024, the Rubin Observatory has been using this extraordinary camera to survey the southern sky as part of its 10-year mission to create a time-lapse record (dubbed the Legacy Survey of Space and Time). Now it’s taken a series of photographs of a region of the night sky known as the Cosmic Evolution Survey Deep Field (COSMOS field), capturing over 650,000 galaxies and more than 75,000 stars.

ACROSS THE UNIVERSE: This video was created by panning and zooming in on a series of stitched-together images of the COSMOS field captured by the Rubin Observatory. Video by NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.

This exceptionally galaxy-rich region was first photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003. Since then, the COSMOS field has been investigated by telescopes around the world capable of viewing the area in wavelengths that stretch beyond the visible spectrum in both directions.<br>Advertisement

The are two reasons the Rubin Observatory is turning its attention to the well-studied COSMOS now. First of all, the large number of prior observations makes the region a good reference target to compare measurements from the relatively new telescope. In fact, the image was released as part of an early preview of Rubin’s data. Secondly, Rubin is going to be studying this region extensively during its 10-year mission to contribute a little texture to those other observations, most notably adding the dimension of time.<br>Read more: “Creating a Cosmic Movie”<br>“The COSMOS deep image is just the beginning for Rubin in this region,” Rubin Observatory director Bob Blum said in a statement. “Repeated visits to the field over the next few years will demonstrate the power of our survey design for discovery by providing our science community with a huge number of transient and variable objects like supernovae and other explosive transients for follow-up and detailed study.”<br>In the meantime, it’s certainly off to quite an auspicious start.<br>Advertisement

Enjoying Nautilus? Subscribe to our free newsletter.<br>Lead image: Rubin Observatory / YouTube

Advertisement

Share on Facebook<br>Share on X (formerly Twitter)<br>Share on Reddit<br>Share on Email<br>Share on Bluesky

JC

Jake Currie<br>Jake Currie is a writer based in Brooklyn, NY.

Stay in touch<br>Sign up for our free newsletter

Email<br>Sign Up

Related Stories<br>Astronomy<br>The Best Mars Photos Taken by the Curiosity Rover<br>We owe a lot to this 1,982-pound buggy

David Nield

August 6, 2026

Astronomy<br>This Image from the Dark Energy Camera Is a Bit Van Gogh, No?<br>Astronomy meets 19th-century art

David Nield

August 5, 2026

Astronomy<br>NASA Just Spotted a Wandering Black Hole Devouring a Star<br>Black holes sometimes make a break for it

David Nield

July 30, 2026

Astronomy<br>Curiosity Rover Finds “Sea of Polygons” on Martian Surface<br>It’s not the first time the robot has found interesting patterns on the red planet

Jake Currie

July 30, 2026

Astronomy<br>This Time-Lapse Video from the Psyche Spacecraft Shows Mars As You’ve Never Seen It Before<br>Just a passing visit, but a dramatic one

David Nield

July 29, 2026

Astronomy<br>An Abandoned SpaceX Rocket Is About to Crash Into the Moon. The Real Problem Comes Next<br>As the moon starts getting crowded, questions of safety and responsibility are becoming hard to ignore

Gregory Radisic

July 28, 2026

© Copyright 2026<br>Made in partnership with Lede