Revolutionary Rubin Observatory debuts with first images taken by world’s largest camera

SCIPP and UC Santa Cruz researchers played pivotal roles in the unveiling of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s first images, released June 23, 2025. Located atop Chile’s Cerro Pachón, this NSF–DOE facility includes the 8.4 m Simonyi Survey Telescope outfitted with a record-breaking 3.2‑gigapixel camera—the largest ever built. Steven Ritz led the Images Group that produced all the image products for First […]


Genome June First Friday at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History

Physicists from the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics participated in the First Friday community science event at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History. The event on Friday, June 6 was sponsored as “Genome June.” The event was part of SCIPP’s ongoing commitment to community outreach, aiming to make complex physics accessible and engaging. […]