UNITED STATES: The world’s largest digital camera is almost ready to be attached to its telescope. The largest digital camera in the world is being finished by workers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The camera will be transported to Chile and fixed to an Andean telescope.
Although the camera is not yet finished, its mechanical components have now been brought together for the first time into an aesthetically pleasing framework.
The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory personnel facilitated media visits to the clean room, and the camera was set up such that visitors could see its impressive focus plane through the camera’s lenses.
In September, the SLAC staff had 21 visitors from 14 media outlets, reflecting various media interests, including local, national, scientific, print, radio, video, and television.
The SLAC team puts the camera shutter and the filter exchange system through their paces. It reportedly has a 3200-megapixel camera that will take pictures for Rubin Observatory’s 10-year Legacy Survey of Space and Time; two dynamic components have also recently been installed.
Compared to a normal digital camera, the LSST Camera is a lot bigger. Its 189 sensors enable it to gather light from stars and other objects and convert it into electrical impulses that may be converted into digital pictures. Each sensor has a diameter of about 16 millimeters and more pixels than any phone.
The camera can take pictures with enough detail to see a moon dust particle because of its total of 3.2 gigapixels. Its lens is the largest of its kind ever made, with a diameter of 1.57 meters.
A shutter and filter-switching mechanism are features of the digital camera. It is placed in the center of the telescope, where optical vignetting (edge darkening) limits the cross-sectional area, and heat dissipation needs to be managed to prevent thermal gradients from damaging the lens. With the least amount of maintenance and downtime, the LSST camera will deliver exceptionally high-quality data.
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