Scientists at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have completed construction of the world’s largest digital camera. It is called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) Camera.
The camera is roughly the size of a small car, weighs 3 metric tons, and has a 3-foot wide front lens. Its image sensor has over 3,200 megapixels made up of 201 individual sensors.
Over the next 10 years, the camera will observe the southern night sky to generate data for research. It will create the world’s largest astrophysical movie.
Researchers will use the data to better understand dark energy, map the Milky Way galaxy in more detail, and observe changes in the night sky over time.
The high-resolution images will help scientists explore objects in the solar system as well as mysteries like dark matter and the evolution of stars and galaxies.
The LSST Camera was built by scientists at SLAC over 20 years and will be placed at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile for its sky survey mission starting in 2023.
Source: kron4
