Because Rubin keeps coming back to the same places, it can catch things that move or change, such as asteroids drifting through the Solar System and stars brightening or exploding. When such a change is detected, the telescope sends an alert to a network of other telescopes so that they can follow up.
Rubin’s primary science goals are understanding the nature of dark matter and dark energy, creating an inventory of the Solar System, mapping the Milky Way, and exploring objects that change position or brightness over time.
Rubin is a joint project of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science.
How does Rubin contribute to planetary defense?
Unlike observatories that change their observations to look for specific targets in different parts of the sky, the Rubin Observatory photographs the same area repeatedly. It’s this steady view that gives it an enhanced ability to spot anything that moves between images. This is why Rubin is expected to find 5 to 10 times more Solar System objects, such as comets and asteroids, than were previously known.
This capability was evident very soon after Rubin began its survey. When the telescope released its first images on June 23, 2025, the team announced 2,104 never-before-seen asteroids found in about 10 hours of test observations. They included seven near-Earth objects, 11 Jupiter Trojans, and nine objects beyond Neptune.