Scientists at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have spent the past seven years working on the LST (Legacy Survey of Space and Time), a camera the size of a car that holds a record: the largest lens in the world.
Building LSST was no joke. This incredible 3.200 megapixel camera has a 60-centimeter (23,6-inch) focal length lens. It could clearly “see” a golf ball 24 kilometers (15 miles) away.
Once completed, LSST will be able to map the sky every 15 seconds with unprecedented amplitude, creating a true 3D movie of the entire southern sky with the captured frames.
Among other things, its mammoth lens will help scientists at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the Chilean mountains better understand the space, dark energy and dark matter.
Because it is important
The study of dark matter is important because it is still a mystery. We know it exists but we don't know what it is: it makes up most of the universe, yet we can't "see" it.
Objective: to “shorten” the infinite
Over its lifetime, the LSST camera will have the potential to discover 17 billion new stars, and over six million celestial objects from our solar system.
The last touch before the final placement in Chile? Upgrade its refrigeration technology so that equipment can be cooled down to -100°C (-148°F) when its engines are too noisy.
The camera will then make its journey into the mountains, first via a Boeing 747 flight, then on a train passing through Mount Cerro Pachón, in May 2023.
At that point, it must be said, the study of astronomy will have given itself a new, great objective.
Find out more about LSST by consulting the official website of the project.
