The Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located on a mountaintop in Chile, has taken a significant step forward with the installation of its massive 3,200-megapixel camera, the largest ever built. The camera is now coupled with the observatory’s 8.4-meter optics, allowing it to capture everything that happens in the southern sky, night after night.
The LSST Camera is part of the observatory’s advanced optical system, which includes a primary/tertiary mirror and a secondary mirror. After months of testing in a clean room, the camera was carefully transported to Chile for installation. The team used custom-made lifting devices to precisely position the massive instrument on the Simonyi Survey Telescope.
The installation marks the culmination of decades of design and construction work. The LSST Camera will undergo final testing before capturing its first images and beginning the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). The project is jointly funded by the US National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science, with operations to be collaboratively managed by NSF NOIRLab and DOE’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
When operational, the LSST Camera will capture images that are large enough to fill 400 ultra-high-definition TV screens. The camera is expected to undergo final testing before capturing its first image, which will be released at a “First Look” event later this year.
Source: https://www.universetoday.com/articles/vera-rubin-gets-its-camera-installed