Vera C. Rubin Observatory: The groundbreaking mission to make a 10-year, time-lapse movie of the universe

Astronomers are about to begin making a time lapse of the night sky using the largest digital camera ever constructed. Designed to reveal any new or moving point of light as well as the structure of the universe, the new $473 million Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile will take so many images, so fast, that it will effectively produce an astronomical movie that allows scientists to see the universe in real time.

Formerly known as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, the Rubin Observatory is expected to give astronomers the data they need to unravel some of the deepest mysteries of how the universe works. The observatory is named after the trailblazing astronomer Vera C. Rubin, who found evidence for dark matter, the mysterious substance that binds galaxies together. 

The observatory is set to undertake a 10-year time lapse of the universe. Here's everything you need to know about the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and its groundbreaking mission.

What is the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and why is it unique?

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory will be like no other telescope on Earth. The extremely wide-field telescope will initiate the decade-long Legacy Survey of Space and Time, a hugely ambitious project to image the entire Southern Hemisphere night sky every three to four nights.

While many modern telescopes are built for close-ups, the observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope, which boasts a 27.6-foot-wide (8.4 meters) primary mirror, has a field of view about the same as the diameter of seven full moons.

The Rubin Observatory has been under construction since 2014 at an altitude of 8,900 feet (2,700 m) on the peak of Cerro Pachón in Chile.

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