The enormity of the LSST camera is evident, with the researchers in a single photograph. (Image: lsst.org)
We live in a time when we can theoretically explain the universe, but still can’t find answers to many questions. Scientists at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory want to answer some of these questions with the world’s largest camera – and its lens is so large that even a human can stand in it.
this Ancient Space and Time Exploration
or just LSST to create a 10-year time-lapse view of the southern night sky. This should make movements in our universe visible for the first time and allow us to see the universe on a time scale.
appropriate Universe
and scale
: The video in the article below impressively demonstrates how often the sizes of planets in our solar system are misrepresented for practical reasons:
impressive video
how small the world really is
But back to LSST. This will make it possible, for example, to observe the movements of galaxies, to better study supernovae, to discover unknown objects and to visualize the expansion of the universe. With LSST, researchers hope to make discoveries that will upend our worldview.
The technical details are very impressive
The LSST is about 3 meters long, 1.65 meters high and weighs an impressive 2800 kilograms.. The image sensors, ie the recording surface, together form a diameter of 64 centimeters. For comparison: The image sensor of a professional full-frame sensor camera is 24 x 36 millimeters.
To fill such an area with pixels, a total of 189 16-megapixel sensors are placed in a mosaic, and together they form an image. Build a recording surface with 3,200 megapixels. Built-in color filters are used that allow the LSST to capture light from ultraviolet to infrared to display the widest possible color spectrum sharply.
The f/1.2 aperture is bright enough to clearly show the night sky and keep exposure times short. Such a large camera filled with electronics also needs to be cooled accordingly. Not only can heat damage electronics, it can also have a negative effect on displays. Especially in terms of image noise.
This is especially important for researchers, because the most interesting discoveries of the Universe have often been made in the darkest areas of images. If the image is too noisy, important details in these areas are lost.
A cryostat system was developed for the camera to sufficiently cool the LSST, keeping components at minus 130°C.
LSST will capture half the night sky in time lapse over 10 years. (Image: lsst.org)
Lots of data for the whole world
Unlike the James Webb telescope, which peers deep into the universe with a narrow field of view, LSST has a very wide field of view.