In a major yet exciting turn of events, the world’s largest digital camera, the Rubin Observatory is all set to be powered on high mountaintop in northern Chile.
As per CNN, Rubin’s main mission, called LSST is to capture the entire night sky in stunning detail which uncovers the mysteries of the universe, something like never before.
Located at an 8,800-foot (2,682-meter) mountain about 300 miles (482 km) north of Santiago, Chile, the camera features an impressive resolution of 3,200 megapixels that's roughly equivalent to the pixel count of 300 smartphones.
Each image will enlarge an area of the sky as wide as 40 full moons.
Clare Higgs, the observatory’s astronomy outreach specialist said, “There’s so much that Rubin will do, we’re exploring the sky in a way that we haven’t before, giving us the ability to answer questions we haven’t even thought to ask.”
Surprisingly, this historical telescope will survey the night sky for ten years and capture 1,000 pictures each night.
The project began in the early 2000s with private donations including renowned billionaires Charles Simonyi and Bill Gates.
“We’re expecting things to happen in the spring of next year — getting everything together, everything aligned, making sure all systems, from the summit all the way through our pipelines and the data," Higgs further shared.
The camera can take a picture every 30 seconds and it will take only 60 seconds to transfer each image from Chile to California, where these pictures go through further processing.
It is pertinent to note that the telescope is currently in the final stages of construction and is expected to switch on in 2025.
