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World's largest digital camera installed in Chile
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)Digital Cameras - Level 4
The world's biggest ever digital camera is up and running. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera was installed in an observatory in Chile earlier this week. Astronomers will now start testing it. They will observe the southern hemisphere skies over the next decade. The U.S. government called the camera "a triumph of science and engineering". It added: "We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce."
The camera is the size of a car. It weighs 2,721 kg. It has a huge 3-billion-pixel sensor. It will take time-lapse images. A researcher said: "We're going to make a colour movie of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky." He hopes the images will shed light on how galaxies formed. He will also investigate dark matter – the invisible substance that makes up a lot of the universe. In addition, he will use the camera to map our Milky Way galaxy.
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Digital Cameras - Level 5
The world's biggest ever digital camera is being tested in an observatory in Chile. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera was made in the USA. It was installed in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory earlier this week. Astronomers will now start testing it. They will observe the southern hemisphere skies over the next decade. A U.S. government department commented on how important the telescope was. It called the imager "a triumph of science and engineering". It added: "We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce."
The camera is the size of a car and weighs 2,721 kg. It has a huge 3-billion-pixel sensor. Today's top-of-the-range smartphone cameras have just 200 million pixels. Astronomers will scan the sky to take time-lapse images. The lead researcher said: "We're going to make a colour movie of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky." He hopes to capture images that will shed light on how galaxies formed. His team will also investigate dark matter – the invisible substance that makes up a significant portion of the universe. In addition, the camera will map our Milky Way galaxy.
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Digital Cameras - Level 6
The world's largest ever digital camera has become operational in an observatory in Chile. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera was funded by U.S. government agencies. The enormous device was installed in the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the South American nation. Astronomers will now commence a period of testing. They will use the camera to observe the southern hemisphere skies over the next decade. The Department of Energy's Office of Science commented on how momentous the completion of the telescope was. It called the camera "a triumph of science and engineering". It added: "We look forward to seeing the unprecedented images this camera will produce."
The camera is the size of a small car and weighs 2,721 kg. It has a massive 3-billion-pixel sensor. In comparison, today's top-of-the-range smartphone cameras have 200 million pixels. Astronomers will repeatedly scan the sky to take time-lapse images of space. Lead researcher Aaron Roodman said: "We like to say that we're going to make a colour movie of the entire Southern Hemisphere sky." In particular, he hopes to capture images that will shed light on how galaxies formed. Roodman's team will also investigate dark matter – the invisible substance that makes up a significant portion of the universe. In addition, the camera will map our Milky Way galaxy in greater detail than ever before.
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