Energy Dept. and NSF Plan Powerful Telescope and Camera for South America
The U.S. Energy Dept. and National Science Foundation (NSF) have finalized designs for the world’s largest digital camera. It will weigh 6,160 lb, be roughly the size of a small car (5.3 10 ft), and will take flat images that measure 25-in. in diameter and contain 3.2 gigapixels. The camera is planned as part of the large synoptic survey telescope (LSST) that the two organizations will construct 1.7 miles above sea level on Cerro Pachón, a mountain in Chile.