A groundbreaking advancement in optical astronomy is set to take place under the clear skies of northern Chile. The largest digital camera ever built, boasting a resolution of over 3.2 gigapixels and weighing nearly three tons, is poised for installation.
As reported by Reuters, this ambitious project aims to embark on an unprecedented decade-long exploration of the universe.
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, featuring this massive camera and a ground-based telescope, has seen its essential components transported to the summit of Cerro Pachón in the Coquimbo region, near the Atacama Desert, approximately 565 kilometers north of Santiago.
“Everything that we needed for operations [is] now on the summit and ready for checkout and hopefully for installation a little bit later this year,” said Stuartt Corder, the chief science officer of the AURA Association of Universities and deputy director of the NOIRLab center, which will manage the observatory.
As described on its official website, the observatory is an integrated system comprising an eight-meter wide-field ground-based telescope, the world’s largest digital camera for optical astronomy, and an automated data processing system.
This system is designed to generate approximately 20 terabytes of data each night, culminating in a ten-year exploration that will produce a catalog database of 15 petabytes.
The primary objective of this extensive exploration is to deepen the understanding of dark energy and dark matter, mysterious components of the universe that are not yet fully understood.
Additionally, the observatory will study the potential risks of Earth colliding with asteroids and observe stars and planets close to the sun.
The AURA consortium, consisting of 47 US institutions and three international affiliates, operates astronomical observatories for the National Science Foundation and NASA, including the NOIRLab center.
Chile’s Atacama Desert, known as the driest desert on earth, provides some of the clearest skies for astronomical observations, making it an ideal location for the observatory. The country’s favorable conditions have attracted significant global investment in astronomy.
