NOIRLab
@NOIRLabAstro
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@NSF NOIRLab is the preeminent US national center for ground-based, nighttime optical and infrared astronomy. Para español siga a @NOIRLabAstroES
Joined September 2019
This is it. The FIRST released video from @VRubinObs. A new era of astronomy starts now! ✨ How many galaxies do you think are in this image? 10 MILLION 🤯 Here, Rubin’s view is focused on the southern region of the Virgo Cluster. 📹: RubinObs/NOIRLab/SLAC/NSF/DOE/AURA
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✨ Calling all AAS 247 Attendees! ✨ Join NOIRLab for an exclusive evening at the Arizona Science Center’s Dorrance DOME, featuring the latest Cosm LED Dome technology & groundbreaking discoveries from the @VRubinObs! Limited space, save your spot: https://t.co/H0ieP5rxeF
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Designed as an FPP-first experience, PUBG: Black Budget is a tactical extraction shooter built around tension, survival, and the unknown.
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🎶 I put a spell on you And now you're mine 🎶 We think the Sanderson sisters would appreciate the Witch Head Nebula, a spooky cloud of gas illuminated by the supergiant star Rigel (to the right and not visible in this image). 📷: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/Fred Calvert/Adam Block
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Crisp astronomical images require pristine telescope mirrors. Here, Optical Technician Mauricio Rojas takes reflectivity measurements of the NSF Víctor M. Blanco telescope primary mirror during quarterly washing activities. 📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
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17 minutes in a single image ✨ Captured not by a photographer, but by a Gemini North Cloud Camera on Maunakea. Star trails, the glow of Waimea, & a U.S. Space Force vehicle launch all appear in this long-exposure composite of 18 photos. 📸 @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA
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SOAR and some starstuff ⭐ The Milky Way is perfectly aligned in this image of the Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope, located on Cerro Pachón in Chile. 📷: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Slovinský
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The wait is OVER — a BRAND NEW science center is open at NSF @KittPeakNatObs! 🎉🎟️ https://t.co/3xJnVEanLH 🔭 Live, up-close viewing of the Sun 🌐 Science On a Sphere experiences 🌞 Fun interactive exhibits on stars, planets, & more! 📷KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/J.Dai
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📷@GeminiObs/CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/NASA/ESA/Hubble/Swift/CXC/ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)
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In 2024, astronomers spotted the brightest Luminous Fast Blue Optical Transient ever seen. These brief blue flashes fade fast but new analysis, including @GeminiObs data, is challenging everything we thought we knew about these rare cosmic explosions. 🔗 https://t.co/3zYD5Gwpgx
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Over the next decade, NSF–DOE @VRubinObs will create an ultra-wide, ultra-high-definition movie of the night sky. Rubin’s field of view is so large, it could capture 45 full Moons in a single shot. 📷: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA
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A moment we've all been waiting for.... NSF–DOE Rubin Observatory will be open for public visits starting in January 2026! Visits will be hosted by @NOIRLabAstro, and reservations are open now — book your spot at https://t.co/gFmIQKXydU
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⭐ Don’t miss this Nature interview with Tony Tyson — a driving force behind the @VRubinObs vision and one of “the people who shaped science in 2025.” 🌌 His work laid the foundation for the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). 🔗
nature.com
Nature - Tony Tyson is part of Nature’s 10, a list of people who shaped science in 2025.
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New record alert 🚨astronomers detected the longest-ever gamma-ray burst (GRB)! These uber-rare explosions usually last a few minutes, but GRB 250702B lasted over 7 hours 💪 With data from @GeminiObs and @cerrotololo, scientists are working to determine the origin of this event.
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A NEW science center is opening at @KittPeakNatObs on Dec 16! 📷 1) One MMP heliostat used to focus sunlight 📷 2) An 87,000-mile-long sunspot group captured in 2001 Get your free tickets here: 🔗 https://t.co/DCexyJDQt7 KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/D. Salman & NSO/NOIRLab/AURA/NSF
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What can you spot in the sky above @Geminiobs South? We’ll get you started: ✅ Orion ✅ Magellanic Clouds ✅ Cirrus clouds ✅ Planes 📷: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Horálek
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We’re putting the finishing touches on our NEW science center! Join us for the opening at @KittPeakNatObs on Dec 16! Advanced tickets are required 🎟️ FREE while they last https://t.co/DCexyJDQt7 📷KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R.T. Sparks 🎶 Mik Garrison
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We’re putting the finishing touches on our NEW science center at @KittPeakNatObs! Join us for the grand opening on Dec 16 🎟️ Tickets required & FREE! https://t.co/DCexyJDQt7 📷 KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R.T. Sparks 🎶 Mik Garrison
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☄️💚 It’s back, and glowing green! After weeks behind the Sun, Comet 3I/ATLAS, the 3rd confirmed interstellar object, has returned to view. @Geminiobs North captured new multicolor images during a live Shadow the Scientists session. 📷: @GeminiObs/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Bolin
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This drone footage was captured at @CerroTololo in Chile, a Program of @NSF @NOIRLabastro. Some of the more prominent telescopes seen here are the Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope and the SMARTS telescopes. 📷: CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/V. Jofré
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The McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope was the largest in the world when it saw first light in 1962. Now, it’s home to the NEW Windows Center opening on Dec 16, 2025! 🎟️ FREE tickets for Dec 16: https://t.co/wQkaPyrAp1 📷 KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T. Matsopoulos & D. Salman
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This video of gravitational lensing comes from NOIRLab’s planetarium show, Messengers of Time and Space! The show is available for free in 4K fulldome format at https://t.co/7lLy57cKTm! 🍿 📹 @GeminiObs/Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor
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