The world’s largest digital camera has been installed in Maui, Hawaii, joining the search for potentially dangerous asteroids in space.
The camera system was installed on a PS1 telescope as part of the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS).
At the heart of the giant camera are 60 large CCD silicon chips arrayed as a giant image sensor 16 inches across. It has a resolution of 1.4 Gigapixels or 1,400 megapixels.
The Pan-STARSS project aims to detect asteroids down to 300 meters in size and send out warnings on those that could be hurtling towards earth.
Video here.
[Via: Space.NewScientist.com]