World’s Most Powerful Digital Camera Captures First Images of Deep Space

The world’s most powerful digital camera has released its first images, revealing vivid views of distant nebulas, stars and galaxies in unprecedented detail.

Credit: AP

The milestone marks the start of a 10-year astronomical survey by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, located atop a mountain in Chile.

The observatory, funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Department of Energy, will scan the southern sky over the next decade.

Its first images include the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas, both stellar nurseries located thousands of light-years from Earth. One light-year equals nearly 9.5 trillion kilometres.

The camera also captured the Virgo Cluster, a collection of galaxies featuring two bright blue spiral galaxies.

The observatory’s mission is to image 20 billion galaxies, while also searching for new asteroids and other celestial bodies.

Named after astronomer Vera Rubin, whose work provided early evidence of dark matter, the project aims to explore the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

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• Vera C. Rubin Observatory begins 10-year sky survey from Chile

• First images show Trifid and Lagoon nebulas, Virgo Cluster

• Observatory will image 20 billion galaxies

Source: CGTN