NSF NOIRLab

Yes, we screamed over this image. Yes, we know it’s gas and dust. Yes, we’d do it again 🤭. Say hello to the Eagle Nebula, located in the constellation of Serpens. 🦅 This nebula is formed by a very luminous open cluster of stars surrounded by dust and gas. The hot stars within the cluster create intense radiation, forming the three cloud pillars in the center of the image. 📸: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector/B. A. Wolpa #astronomy #nebula #universe #cosmos

You're on Earth wondering if you said something weird 🫣 Meanwhile, there are trillions of galaxies… And each galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars… Most stars have planets. So, take a deep breath and give yourself a break. There’s something out there that’s wayyy weirder. 😮💨✨ 📸Dark Energy Survey/DOE/FNAL/DECam/CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA #astronomy #galaxy #universe #cosmos

✨ 50 years under the southern skies ✨ The Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope, perched high at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile, will celebrate its 50th year of operation in 2026! Since its first light in 1976, this iconic telescope has witnessed countless cosmic wonders, from supernovae to distant galaxies, and even had its own milestones. In 1995, it was officially named after Puerto Rican astronomer Víctor Manuel Blanco, CTIO’s second director and a key figure in building the observatory into a world-class research hub. Fun fact: Blanco also discovered the open star cluster Blanco 1, named in his honor back in 1959. 📸 CTIO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/ P.Horálek #Astronomy #Chile #universe #cosmos

☄️ Interstellar alert! The NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory has captured this video of Comet 3I/ATLAS — the third interstellar object ever discovered — 10 days before its official detection on 1 July 2025 by the ATLAS survey. Taken during commissioning with Rubin’s 3200-megapixel LSST Camera, these early observations show just how powerful this next-generation observatory will be for discovering cosmic visitors. #RubinObservatory #Comet3I #Astronomy #Science #universe

Does anyone mind if we crack a window? 🪟 Keeping a telescope cool helps it take the best possible measurements. Luckily, Gemini South is equipped with 10-meter thermal vents to cool off when things get heated. Thanks for letting us vent a little… 😆 📷International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA #astronomy #telescope #chile #science

It’s a bird 🐦⬛… it’s a plane 🛩️… it’s meteors ☄️over the McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope! Renowned for its many decades as the world’s most powerful solar telescope 💪🌞, the McMath-Pierce at Kitt Peak National Observatory is transitioning into a new role as the ✨🌌Windows on the Universe Center for Astronomy Outreach 🌌✨ 🥳 📷KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Sparks #arizona #kittpeak #astronomy

Pleiades appreciation post 🌟 The Pleiades are an open star cluster visible to the unaided eye. Also known as the ‘Seven Sisters,’ the cluster is dominated by several massive, hot stars. The blue nebulosity surrounding them is caused by blue light scattering off of dust grains in nearby clouds of gas. This image was obtained with the wide-field view of the Mosaic camera on the WIYN 0.9-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. 📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage), R. Cool (University of Arizona) and WIYN #astronomy #pleaides #universe #cosmos

Meet the galaxy’s weirdest rave light: the gamma-ray pulsar PSR J2030+4415. It’s a dead star spinning so fast that it launches beams of radiation across space like a cosmic lighthouse. Also: a teaspoon of it would weigh as much as Mount Everest. Please do not attempt to stir it into your coffee. This image was captured with the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) on the Gemini North telescope in Hawai‘i, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, operated by NSF NOIRLab. Credit: International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA #Pulsar #GammaRay #Astronomy

She doesn’t know it yet, but… she will one day be the namesake for the newest and most powerful survey observatory in the world. 🤯🔭 Happy Birthday Vera Rubin! Dr. Vera C. Rubin was an American astronomer who fundamentally changed astronomy. She’s pictured here in the 60s using the 0.9-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, a program of NSF NOIRLab, before her groundbreaking work was published proving that dark matter is real. ✨ Her incredible contribution to astronomy was honored by renaming of the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory after her in 2019! Learning more about dark matter is one of the main science goals that Rubin Observatory will enable starting later this year. Rubin is jointly operated by NSF NOIRLab and U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science's SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. 📷: Carnegie Institution for Science 📷: NOIRLab/NSF/AURA #VeraRubin #astronomer #astronomy #science

Please stop tagging your location at the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy It’s 12 million light-years away 📍You're at your local coffee shop Also known as Messier 83, the Southern Pinwheel Galaxy’s swirling spiral arms display a high rate of star formation and host six detected supernovae. This image was captured with the Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, a Program of NSF NOIRLab. 📷: CTIO/NOIRLab/DOE/NSF/AURA/T.A. Rector (University of Alaska Anchorage/NSF NOIRLab), D. de Martin (NSF NOIRLab) & M. Zamani (NSF NOIRLab)