A laboratory in the United States is close to completing the construction of the world’s largest digital camera, which features a 1.65m wide lens and a 3200MP camera.
Scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory at Stanford University are working to build the LSST’s camera to capture the night sky in unprecedented detail.
Once completed, the camera will be transferred to the Large Comprehensive Survey Telescope in Chile, where it will be positioned on top of the Simonyi Telescope.
With a field of view of 9.6 square degrees (for stereoscopic angles), roughly 40 times the size of the Moon when viewed from Earth, astronomers will be able to pick up differences in the brightness of the 37 billion stars in their field of view, as well as other periodic instabilities which were previously impossible to notice.
By doing so, the scientists hope this will enable a new understanding of some of the biggest mysteries of the universe, such as the nature of dark matter, as the camera is capable of capturing up to 15 terabytes of images each night.
The project’s website states, “The LSTE camera is the largest digital camera ever built…it is roughly the size of a small car and weighs around 2,800 kg. The LART camera will produce extremely high-quality data with minimal downtime and maintenance”.
With construction almost complete, the camera is expected to be transferred to the Chile Observatory in May 2023 on a specially modified Boeing 747 freighter. It will then start operating the following year once it is installed.
