Chile observatory reveals first deep space images

BREATHTAKING stellar nurseries, a sprawling stretch of cosmos teeming with millions of galaxies, and thousands of newly discovered asteroids were revealed this week in the first deep space images captured by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.

- AFP

More than two decades in the making, the $800 million US-funded telescope sits atop Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos.

One debut image is a composite of 678 exposures taken over seven hours, capturing the Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops.

It reveals these birthplaces of stars in unprecedented detail, with previously faint or invisible features now clearly visible.

Another, dubbed “The Cosmic Treasure Chest,” shows the universe “teeming with stars and galaxies — the seemingly empty black pockets of space between stars in the night sky when you look at it with unaided eyes are transformed here into these glittering tapestries,” said Zeljko Ivezic, director of Rubin construction.

Spiral, elliptical, and clustered galaxies appear in vivid reds, blues and oranges. These colour reveal key details such as distance and size with unmatched precision, helping scientists better understand the universe's expansion history.