Cosmologist Tony Tyson has unveiled the first image from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Washington, D.C., showcasing 10 million galaxies on an inky black backdrop. The observatory, built in Chile, features a massive camera capable of recording over 20 billion galaxies over the next decade.
Tyson’s magnum opus is the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) camera, which he co-founded in the 1990s after discovering dark energy in the universe’s expansion. The camera consists of an array of 189 CCDs with 3.2 billion pixels, making it the largest digital camera ever built.
The LSST aims to chronicle the history of dark matter and dark energy, two entities that make up 95% of the universe’s content. By studying these mysterious components, scientists can better understand the structure of our cosmos. The observatory will also issue alerts for new discoveries every 30 seconds, providing a wealth of information on exploding objects, asteroids, and comets.
Tyson’s work has led to breakthroughs in understanding dark matter and dark energy, including the discovery of their presence through weak gravitational lensing. However, much remains to be discovered, and it will take years for the Rubin Observatory to provide answers.
The unveiling marks a significant milestone in the quest to unravel the universe’s secrets, with Tyson expressing excitement about the discoveries that will follow from this new era of astronomy.
Source: https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-biggest-ever-digital-camera-is-this-cosmologists-magnum-opus-20250711