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On June 23, 2025, a new Chile-based observatory released its first images after just over ten hours of test observations, revealing millions of galaxies and more than 2,000 previously unknown asteroids, including several near-Earth objects.

Which newly operational observatory produced this record-setting first batch of images in 2025?

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Perched atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, the Rubin Observatory uses an 8.4-meter telescope paired with the largest digital camera ever built to begin its decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time, which will scan the entire visible sky every few nights. In its very first test run it discovered 2,104 new asteroids, seven of them near-Earth objects, before its main survey had even started.

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is correct because it is the Chile-based facility that released its historic first images in June 2025, using its 8.4-meter telescope and record-breaking camera to spot millions of galaxies and thousands of asteroids in just hours of test observations, kicking off its decade-long survey of the entire visible sky.

The Extremely Large Telescope and the Giant Magellan Telescope are both real, ambitious observatories under construction in Chile, but neither had reached this operational milestone by 2025 — they remain works in progress aimed at different kinds of observations, mostly detailed imaging of individual objects rather than repeatedly scanning the whole sky.

Rubin's survey strategy means it will photograph the same patch of sky over and over, which is ideal for catching things that move or change — like asteroids, exploding stars, and even objects passing through our solar system from interstellar space.

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