The largest camera in the world is now complete: it has 3,200 megapixels and it took 20 years

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) is now complete. After two decades of work, the largest digital camera ever created to study galaxies is now ready. Located in the Chilean observatory Vera C. Rubin At 2,700 meters above sea level, we are facing a unique project. A camera with 3,200 megapixels, weighing more than three tons and 1.65 meters wide.

Department of Energy engineers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory explain that they have finally completed construction of this enormous chamber. From now on and for 10 years, the camera will generate a huge number of images of nearby galaxies that will be used to study the universe and analyze how the night sky changes from Earth.

“We will soon begin producing the best movie of all time and the most informative map of the night sky ever created,” explains Željko Ivezićdirector of the Rubin Observatory

The 3,200 megapixel camera is the size of a small car. The camera has 201 sensors but without a doubt the protagonist is the lens. A colossal lens measuring 1.57 meters and 10 centimeters thickthe largest in the world for this purpose, which is accompanied by two other lenses of almost one meter.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) team has been one of those in charge of the design and manufacture of this lens and they are proud to have completed their project.

“We are excited to see this unprecedented instrument completed and ready to embark on its journey to the Rubin Observatory,” says engineer Vincent Riot, from LLNL, who recalls that a large number of optics and optics experts have worked to manufacture it. Some of the most advanced lasers in the world have been used for decades.

The pixels measure only 10 microns and the resolution of this camera is so high that hundreds of televisions would be needed to represent a single image. “You could find a golf ball 25 kilometers away,” explains the director. This very high resolution applied to the universe allows us to have a representation of the sky in a way that has not been available until now.

According to the team's estimates, the camera will increase the number of known objects in the universe by a factor of 10. For example, it would allow us to identify threats from asteroids approaching the planet or other objects in space that until now were not visible.

The project had an initial budget of 168 million euros and the completion date was expected to be in 2021. The pandemic caused a delay until now, but the world's largest camera is finally ready to be moved to the observatory. A feat of technology that will allow us to analyze the universe like never before.

Previously the record, which dates back to the 2000s, was held by the chamber of the Subaru telescope (Hawaii), with 870 megapixels and 8.2 meters wide. Precisely this telescope was the one that until recently has allowed us to identify the most distant objects. The next decade belongs to the Vera C.Rubin telescope and its magnificent camera.

Images | SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

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