Scientists have completed the construction of the world's largest digital camera – LSST, which was done for 9 years. It will be used at the Vera Rubin Observatory to study the southern sky for 10 years. This is reported by Gizmodo.
LSST has 3.2 billion pixels. The main purpose of the device – the study of space and time, including the nature of dark matter, dark energy, the expansion of the universe, and the formation of galaxies. The LSST camera will use its optical lens to image the sky from different wavelength ranges.
The digital camera for the Vera Rubin Observatory cost millions of times more than an actual Rolls Royce and weighs more than 2.8 tons. It will allow scientists to study the expansion of the universe with the help of gravitational lensing and detect special objects, such as quasars, which are in a certain relationship with galaxies.
The first images from the LSST camera will be released in 2025. Before that, the team needs to deliver the camera to Chile, prepare the observatory and start research. The LSST camera is expected to increase the number of known objects tenfold and provide new unique data about the universe.