SLAC topics

Dark energy RSS feed

Scientists study the force that drives that acceleration, dubbed “dark energy,” with deep astronomical surveys that look at how the distribution of galaxies has changed over billions of years.

Related links:
Physics of the universe
Astrophysics and cosmology

An observatory bathed in red light against a starry night sky
Feature

With survey operations set to begin this fall, the Rubin control room at SLAC will serve as a key hub for training and remote...

First Photons in the Rubin control room at SLAC
Multimedia

His visit highlighted the breadth of our world-class research and the people and collaborations that make it possible. A key theme of the day...

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Danly watches a simulation of dark matter.
Multimedia

On Monday, scientists and engineers reacted to the first images from the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory, marking a historic milestone.

Scientists reacting to presentation
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Two decades ago, Stanford and SLAC took a gamble on an unproven telescope design. Now it's on the verge of paying off.

NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory
News Release

The state-of-the-art ‘big-data facility’ unveils its first images and video, bringing the night sky to life like never before.

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) and the Lagoon nebula, which are several thousand light-years away from Earth
Video

A view of Cerro Pachón at sunset in 2024 shows the Rubin Observatory with Gemini South and SOAR in the distance, ahead of Rubin’s...

Front Page Rubin Cerro Pachón
Video
Video

A drone circles the Rubin Observatory at sunset in 2024, just before it begins a 10-year survey of the southern sky.

Front Page Rubin Summit
Video
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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is about to embark on its quest to capture the cosmos, marking the culmination of decades of work by...

A group photo in front of a large telescope mounting system.
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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory will add an unprecedented amount of cosmological data to the study of the structure and expansion of the Universe.

An illustration of a woman holding a book is surrounded by photographic negatives showing pictures of the universe.
Feature

A look inside the data processing infrastructure built by the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory to handle the Universe’s greatest data challenge.

Computer code, circles and data overlaid on an image of a red-orange nebula.
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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is gearing up to illuminate the Universe’s darkest secrets with groundbreaking new technology.

Cosmic Focus
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Now that NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s LSST Camera has been installed, what’s next?

A large black cylindrical camera is positioned in a telescope dome.