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Astronomers have unveiled the world’s largest digital camera - CtrlF.XYZ

Astronomers have unveiled the world’s largest digital camera

2 years ago 169

The world’s largest integer camera for astronomy is taller than a car, has arsenic galore pixels arsenic 2666 iPhones and will, implicit the people of the adjacent 10 years, assistance researchers survey billions of galaxies

Space 12 October 2022

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Researchers astatine SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory are astir done with the LSST Camera, the world's largest integer camera ever built for astronomy. Roughly the size of a tiny car and weighing successful astatine 3 tons, the camera features a five-foot wide beforehand lens and a 3,200 megapixel sensor that volition beryllium cooled to -100?C to trim noise. Once implicit and successful spot atop the Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Simonyi Survey Telescope successful Chile, the camera volition survey the confederate nighttime entity for a decade, creating a trove of information that scientists volition pore implicit to amended recognize immoderate of the universe's biggest mysteries, including the quality of acheronian vigor and acheronian matter.

Standing astatine 1.65 metres tall, the world’s largest integer camera has been unveiled astatine SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory successful California.

At the extremity of 2024, it volition beryllium installed astatine the Vera C. Rubin Observatory astatine the acme of Cerro Pachón successful Chile. In its location successful the Andes mountains, it volition catalogue astir 20 cardinal galaxies implicit the adjacent 10 years arsenic portion of a task called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The dozens of terabytes of information that the LSST Camera volition cod each nighttime volition beforehand our cognition of the universe, helping researchers unpack the quality of mysterious dark matter and amended recognize how galaxies are formed.

The LSST Camera works similar immoderate different integer camera, but it’s vastly bigger. Its 189 sensors instrumentality successful airy emanating from objects similar stars and person it to electrical signals that tin beryllium turned into integer images. Each sensor is astir 16 millimetres ample and packs much pixels than a azygous iPhone. In total, the camera has 3.2 gigapixels and volition instrumentality images with solution precocious capable to spot a particle of particulate connected the moon. Its largest lens, with a diameter of 1.57 meters, is the largest lens of its benignant that has ever been made.

LSST Camera task manager Vincent Riot says that putting the camera’s sensors were highly costly to marque and immoderate misalignments could easy harm them, truthful putting them unneurotic was similar “parking Lamborghinis millimetres apart”.

In 2020, earlier immoderate lenses oregon shutters were installed connected the camera, SLAC researchers tested the sensors by snapping images of assorted objects, including a head of Romanesco broccoli, done a pinhole. Now, with each different imperishable pieces successful place, the camera volition beryllium rigorously tested for 5 months to forestall having to troubleshoot it erstwhile it’s connected apical of a mountain, says Riot.

Then it’s disconnected to Santiago, Chile connected a chartered Boeing 747 wherever it volition beryllium transferred to a bid car and sent to the apical of Cerro Pachón, wherever it volition springiness america a presumption of the beingness similar we’ve ne'er had before.

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