A new 3,200-megapixel digital camera is set to change the face of global astronomy. From the AURA Observatory in Chile, it will map the entire Southern Hemisphere in unprecedented detail. DW reports from Elqui Valley, north of Santiago.
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00:00At an altitude of 2,700 meters, this observatory in Chile will completely change the way that
00:07we observe and capture images of the cosmos.
00:13We are the window to the universe today.
00:15We are the present of world astronomy and, above all, the future.
00:19The world's largest digital camera will be attached to this huge telescope with a mirror
00:24of 8.4 meters.
00:27It cost 165 million dollars, provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, and was built at
00:33Stanford University's SLAC laboratory in California.
00:42Nowadays scientists ask to observe something specific because they have a theory they want
00:47to prove.
00:48So the telescope is pointed at a specific space in the sky at a specific time for hours
00:53or for several nights.
00:55What we are going to do is to take pictures of everything.
00:59And the scientists will be able to generate their own hypothesis and thesis directly from
01:04what we are going to give them in real time.
01:10The results from the 144-megapixel test camera are already astonishing.
01:16The new device will have 3,200 megapixels, allowing for an exceptional field of view.
01:23It will take about 400 Ultra HD TV screens to display just a single image from the Vera
01:29Rubin project.
01:33We're switching between a color photograph to HD video of the universe, skipping all
01:39those black and white TV stages.
01:43We're jumping straight from color photography to HD video.
01:53From static observation to a purpose a thousand times more dynamic.
01:59With this automatic comparison of images, the system will be able to detect if a star
02:04exploded, if it became a supernova, or if a body like an asteroid is coming towards
02:11the Earth.
02:13It is assumed that we currently know only about 5% of the universe.
02:18Once the new camera is operational, the remaining 95%, which is essentially dark energy and
02:23dark matter, will be discoverable.
02:27The advantage of this integrated system of mirrors and camera is that you will be able
02:31to see very far away, or you will be able to see objects that are very faint, ones that
02:37today are not visible to any telescope, let alone the human eye.
02:41In addition, as it will have a very fast movement per night, it will be able to capture many
02:46images that will be compared over 10 years to see how these objects are changing and
02:51how the movement, life and death of the stars, the planets, is changing.
02:56How they are born, how they become extinct, how they work.
03:00Today, scientists are fine-tuning the details, so that the telescope and camera will be operational
03:06in 2025.