Located in Chile, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory houses the world's largest digital camera, which is about the size of a small car. This camera is set to create an unprecedented map of the night sky, with its first public images expected to be released on June 23.

How the Camera Works

The digital camera at the observatory features a focal plane composed of a grid of complex sensors. Assembled in a clean room at the observatory, the focal plane is over two feet wide, with sensors that are sealed in a vacuum and supercooled to prevent grainy images. Each sensor holds over 16 million pixels and is grouped into 21 rafts, each containing more than 144 million pixels. Some segments of the sensors may have defects or noise, but the camera captures 3.5 degrees of the sky in each image, taking 15 seconds to capture and only two seconds to download.

A test image of astronomer Vera Rubin was described as the largest single-shot image ever captured, covering nearly 400 4K TV screens if shown at full size.

Calibration and Data Processing

During a visit by Times reporters, the telescope at the observatory was undergoing calibration to measure pixel sensitivity differences. The camera is expected to have a lifespan of more than 10 years, producing about 20 terabytes of data every night. This data will be transferred and processed at facilities in California, France, and Britain.

Specialized software will compare new images with templates from previous data to detect changes in brightness or position in the sky, with an expected detection rate of up to 10 million changes per night.

Challenges and Expectations

Despite potential interruptions like bright streaks from satellites or clouds, the Rubin Observatory aims to catalog 20 billion galaxies and 17 billion stars across the Southern sky over the next decade.