The largest digital camera ever built for visual astronomy, with a pixel density of more than 3.2 gigapixels, a weight of nearly three tonnes.
And a lofty goal of performing a record-breaking 10 years long research.
Willing to be added beneath the blue skies of northern Chile.
10 Years Long Research in Chile
The components needed to put together the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, which features a ground-based telescope and a camera.
Vera C. Rubin Observatory
Were transported in multiple vehicles to the top of Cerro Pachón in the Coquimbo region.
On the outskirts of the Atacama desert, about 565 kilometres north of Santiago.
“Everything that we needed for operations [is] now on the summit and ready for checkout and hopefully for installation a little bit later this year,”
Said Stuartt Corder, chief science officer of the AURA association of universities and deputy director of the NOIRLab center, which will operate the observatory.
20 Terabytes Of Data Per Night
In accordance to its website, the Rubin Observatory is a complex.
Connected system made up of an eight-meter wide-field ground-based telescope, a camera, and a robotic data processing system.
It will produce about 20 terabytes of data per night, and after ten years of exploration, it will have a 15 petabyte record database.
Objective Of The Investigation
The objective of the investigation will be to gain insight into the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe.
Of which barely any is known, as well as to investigate the likelihood of Earth crashing with asteroids, stars, and planets close to the sun.
“That’s a really inspiring moment where you can say – we’re starting. We’re standing here at the precipice, getting ready to start a campaign that in ten years.
We hope will answer the questions of … when the universe was made and started into motion … and how will it continue to evolve in the future?”
What’s AURA
AURA is a group of 47 US-based organisations and three international affiliates that manage telescopes for the National Science Foundation and NASA. It is in charge of managing, among other things, the NOIRLab centre.
The bright skies of Chile’s Atacama Desert, the world’s driest desert, attract much of the world’s investment in astronomy.
To read our blog on “SpaceX’s starship made its trip back to Earth,” click here
