The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) is set to become the world’s largest digital camera for astronomy capable of shooting 3,200-megapixel photos once it’s complete in May 2023. At that time, the camera, which has a lens that measures 5-feet across, will be transported to the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
It utilizes three gigantic lenses to collect and focus the light from the 8.4 meter, 3-mirror Simonyi Telescope light onto its 3,200-megapixel CCD sensor, the largest of which (known as L-1) measures 1.57 meters across. All of this hardware will be sealed inside an air-tight, refrigerated housing measuring 1.65 meters in diameter, 3 meters in length and weighing a hefty 6,200 pounds. Let’s just say that it will be able to even more impressive photos than this 230-megapixel mosaic of the Sun.
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This achievement is among the most significant of the entire Rubin Observatory Project. The completion of the LSST Camera focal plane and its successful tests is a huge victory by the camera team that will enable Rubin Observatory to deliver next-generation astronomical science,” said Steven Kahn, Director of the SLAC Observator.
