The 3,200-megapixel LSST Camera is being tested inside the clean room at SLAC. The camera is the central component of the NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
(Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
At sunset in 2024, a drone captures the ridge of Cerro Pachón in Chile, with the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in the foreground and Gemini South and SOAR visible in the distance—facilities located on land managed by AURA. Rubin observatory is preparing to begin a 10-year survey of the southern sky, capturing a new image every 30 seconds and creating the most comprehensive 3D time-lapse of the universe ever attempted.
(Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
A drone captures a sweeping view of the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory at sunset in 2024, perched atop Cerro Pachón in Chile. The observatory is preparing to begin a 10-year survey of the southern sky, taking a new image every 30 seconds and collecting around 2,000 images every three nights. This ambitious effort will create an unprecedented 3D time-lapse of the universe.
(Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Travis Lange is seen reflected in the LSST Camera’s focal plane as he inspects the camera assembly in 2022 inside SLAC’s clean room. The focal plane holds 189 sensors that make up the camera’s 3.2-gigapixel imaging system, designed to capture detailed views of the night sky for the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory' 10-year survey.
(Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
Inside SLAC’s clean room, in 2019, one of the first sensor rafts for the LSST Camera is carefully loaded into the camera’s cryostat. Each raft contains a group of 9 sensors that will be cooled during operation to detect faint light from distant galaxies. This step was part of the assembly of the 3.2-gigapixel LSST Camera, now installed at the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
(Olivier Bonin/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory)
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NSF–DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory is about to embark on its quest to capture the cosmos, marking the culmination of decades of work by thousands of people across the globe.
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