About two weeks ago, astronomers welcomed a new tool into their arsenal for studying the cosmos: the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
The observatory houses the world’s largest digital camera, which photographs the sky every 40 seconds. According to the observatory’s website, the camera is the size of an SUV and captures images at the incredible resolution of 3,200 megapixels.
Already, the observatory has begun to release stunning images of the far reaches of the cosmos, such as the one featured in this post.
This is not only a technological feat for producing the equipment necessary to capture the images, but it is also a computing success.
While the observatory captures the images, they are transmitted via fiber optic cables to California, where a supercomputer processes and analyzes them.
The hope is that the facility will help scientists study and understand both dark energy and dark matter.
The facility is named after Dr. Vera C. Rubin, who produced evidence of the existence of dark matter in the cosmos.
PHOTO CREDIT: The Trifid and Lagoon Nebulae. (NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory)
