Overview

• The initial three images showcase the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas and a section of the Virgo Cluster, combining hundreds of exposures for enhanced depth and clarity.
• Built atop Cerro Pachón in Chile, the observatory features an 8.4-meter Simonyi Survey Telescope feeding the largest digital camera ever constructed.
• Starting late 2025, its Legacy Survey of Space and Time will map the southern sky every three to four nights over a decade, generating about 20 terabytes of data per night.
• Real-time processing pipelines will issue global alerts within minutes upon detecting transient events, enabling rapid follow-up of phenomena like supernovas or near-Earth asteroids.
• Scientists expect the mission to uncover millions of new asteroids and deliver insights into dark matter, dark energy and the evolving structure of the universe.