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This image combines 678 separate images taken by NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in just over seven hours of observing time. Combining many images in this way clearly reveals otherwise faint or invisible details, such as the clouds of gas and dust that comprise the Trifid nebula (top right) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth.

This observatory's first images are stunning — and just the start

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory has just released some of its first images. Its powerful new telescope will be able to quickly spot previously unseen astronomical objects.
The Rubin Observatory in all its splendor. In winter, the skies can be cloudy and when the sun passes below the clouds, it's a feast of colors!

University of Arizona researchers played crucial role in developing Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The observatory took over two decades to build and get up and running, and made international news as it recently released its first images.
Illustration of asteroid approaching Earth.

UA researchers get the spotlight in new NASA documentary

The film follows asteroid hunters at telescopes in Arizona and around the world.
This artist’s concept shows what exoplanet K2-18 b could look like based on science data. K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, orbits the cool dwarf star K2-18 in the habitable zone and lies 120 light-years from Earth.

Are there signs of life on alien planet K2-18b, or is it just a lot of hot air?

The James Webb Space Telescope may have detected life-associated gas in the atmosphere of a far-off planet. The news is being greeted with both enthusiasm and skepticism.

Rogue Theatre's "Marjorie Prime" creates a conversation about what it means to be human in the age of AI.

Also on Arizona Spotlight: Understanding canyons on the moon; and more voices from The Class of 2024.
NASA's SPHEREx observatory undergoes testing in August 2024. The mission will make the first all-sky spectroscopic survey in the near-infrared, helping to answer some of the biggest questions in astrophysics.

Searching the entire sky for the secrets to our universe

A new telescope could launch as early as late February. SPHEREx will look into deep space and also search for organic molecules.
Two grand canyons on the moon radiating from the Schrödinger impact basin, from a view that looks obliquely across the lunar surface, like an astronaut in an approaching spacecraft.

The moon's grand canyons were carved in the blink of an eye

The Earth's Grand Canyon took millions of years to carve, but the moon's grand canyons took about ten minutes.
A team of astronomers sifted through James Webb Space Telescope data to compile one of the largest samples of "little red dots." The team started with the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey before widening their scope to other extragalactic legacy fields, including the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES) and the Next Generation Deep Extragalactic Exploratory Public (NGDEEP) survey.

James Webb Space Telescope's 'little red dots' come into focus

When the cosmic oddballs first showed up in some of JWST's early observations, in December of 2022, it was a surprise.
Illustration of the Parker Solar Probe flyby of the Sun.

Parker Solar Probe making history six years after launch

Robotic explorer is the first to sail through the sun's atmosphere.
This graphic shows the difference in the appearance of the Moon’s size in its furthest and closest distances to Earth.

Stargazers can see the final supermoon of the year this weekend

If you miss this supermoon, you won't be able to see the next one until October 2025.
James Webb Space Telescope's MIRI imager shows dust cloud around Vega.

Webb telescope delivers new ideas about Milky Way star Vega

UA-built camera shows vast, smooth dust disk surrounding the star.
Photo of Europa from NASA's Galileo spacecraft, 1998.

New NASA spacecraft ready to launch toward Jupiter moon Europa

Europa Clipper will observe surface features that could conceal a vast ocean.
Artist's illustration of 2024 PT5.

Earth welcomes temporary new moon

Scientists say the traveling companion will only stick around for a few weeks.
This image provided by NASA shows an enhanced color view of Pluto’s big moon Charon captured by the New Horizons spacecraft, July 14, 2015.

NASA's Webb telescope detects traces of carbon dioxide on the surface of Pluto's largest moon

The latest detection is key to studying how Charon and other icy objects in the Kuiper Belt came to be.
An aerial view of Kitt Peak National Observatory. From February 2022.

Kitt Peak celebrates 60 years of public tours

Public telescopes reopen after COVID, fires caused closures on the mountain.
Fisherman on Venice Pier taking a photograph of the Supermoon blue blood moon with partial lunar eclipse, Venice, Florida taken on January 31, 2018.

A celestial trifecta: What to know about Tuesday’s lunar eclipse

Stargazers will be in for another celestial treat Tuesday night as three cosmic events will occur at the same time during the full moon.

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