Build 3.2 Gigapixel camera gets green light

The US Department of Energy has approved the construction of a 3.2-gigapixel camera for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. This allows the construction of the camera, which is the size of a small car, to start.

The US government’s decision was ‘Critical Decision 3’ and thus the last hurdle that had to be overcome before construction could start. The team behind the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope can now begin parts ordering and subsequent build. Critical Decision 1 was taken in 2011, and Decision 2 was approved at the beginning of this year.

The camera measures 1.65 by 3 meters and is the most important part of the telescope. The weight is 2800 kilos. Technicians provide the system with, among other things, a mechanism to be able to quickly change filters, so that light of multiple wavelengths can be collected. The camera and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope should provide images of the universe with enormous detail. The first digital images should be captured in 2022. Over a period of ten years, the telescope will detect tens of billions of objects.

The LSST foresees a publicly accessible database of data in the future with a size of 6 million gigabytes per year. Analysis of this should provide information about the formation of galaxies and about asteroids that are on a collision course with the earth. In addition, information is collected about exploding stars and asteroids are tracked.