Scientists are developing the world’s biggest camera to help us unlock some of the universe’s biggest mysteries. What makes the camera so special is that it has a focal plane that can snap 3,200-megapixel images. What does this mean in layman’s terms?
It means the camera can make images so big that it would take 378 4K television screens to present one of them in full size, while the resolution is high enough that you could “spot a golf ball from around 15 miles (24 km) away.” That’s why this camera has so much potential to teach us more about space.
On top of the big focal plane, the team of scientists behind the camera are preparing to install a sensor array into the camera that can spot objects 100 million times dimmer than what can be seen with the naked eye.
The device is the centerpiece of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory currently under construction in Chile, which will spend 10 years gathering the widest, fastest and deepest views of the night sky ever taken. For all you space lovers, expect even more incredible images of the universe in the coming years.
