Chile to install world’s largest astronomy camera on the edge of Atacama desert
- With a resolution above 3.2 gigapixels, a nearly three-ton weight and the ambitious task of carrying out an unprecedented decade-long exploration, the largest digital camera ever built for optical astronomy is ready to be installed under the clear skies of northern Chile.
Key Details:
- Location: Cerro Pachón in the Coquimbo region, Chile.
- Camera: It's massive, weighing almost three tons, with a resolution of over 3.2 gigapixels.
- Purpose: The camera is part of a decade-long exploration to study dark energy, dark matter, and potential asteroid collisions.
- Data: It will generate 20 terabytes of data nightly, creating a 15 petabyte database over the decade.
- Aim: Understand how the universe began and its future development.
- Location Choice: Chile's Atacama Desert offers clear skies, ideal for astronomy. Chile hosts much of the world’s investment in astronomy due to the clear skies of its Atacama Desert, the driest desert on earth.
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