Vera C. Rubin Observatory locks eyes with sinister Seagull Nebula in long-awaited test image — Space photo of the week

Follow us

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

quick facts

What it is: The head of the sassy Seagull Nebula (IC 2177)
Where it is: Between the constellations Monoceros and Canis Major, about 3,700 light-years away
When it was shared: Oct. 22, 2026

When a seagull stares you down, scientists recommend that you stare right back at it to keep your dignity (and your french fries) intact.

Two years ago, astronomers at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory put this idea — and their brand-new telescope — to a test of cosmic proportions, aiming an experimental 144-megapixel camera at the menacing blue eye of the Seagull Nebula (IC 2177).

The Rubin Observatory, meanwhile, had to avert its gaze quickly; this image is just one of about 16,000 exposures taken of the night sky between Oct. 24 and Dec. 11, 2024, according to the National Science Foundation, which co-manages Rubin along with the U.S. Department of Energy. Taken with the aforementioned Commissioning Camera (ComCam), the deep-space photos served as an early test of the observatory’s hardware, software and image-processing capabilities.

You may like

A comparison of ComCam’s field of view (right box) with the LSST Cam’s field of view (left box). The relative size of the full moon is shown for scale. LSST Cam, currently in use at the observatory, can see roughly 20 times more than ComCam saw in its test observations.

(Image credit: NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory/NOIRLab/SLAC/AURA)

ComCam’s test image is remarkably crisp — but what’s even more impressive is that Rubin has since upgraded to a camera with more than 20 times the field of view. The Legacy Survey of Space and Time Camera currently mounted on the observatory’s Simonyi Survey Telescope takes 3,200-megapixel images of the night sky every 30 seconds, completing a full scan of the entire southern sky every few nights, Tony Tyson, Rubin’s chief scientist, previously told Live Science.

Now that the Legacy Survey of Space and Time has officially begun, Rubin will spend the next 10 years photographing the sky night after night, creating a time-lapse movie of the universe that is expected to reveal millions of cosmic wonders, from exploding supernovas to newfound comets and exoplanets. Perhaps it will even spot another bird.

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Like what you see? Take a look at the hidden details in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s debut images here.

TOPICS

space photo of the week