VOA科学技术2024--World's Largest Camera for Astronomy Reaches Chilean Mountaintop

The largest digital camera ever built for space scientists is ready to be put in place under the clear skies of northern Chile.

The camera can produce images above 3.2 gigapixels in size and weighs nearly three tons. A pixel is the smallest area of detail in a digital image.

The camera is one of the main pieces required of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory¹. The pieces include a telescope with a mirror that is 8.4 meters across and the huge camera. The observatory is expected to start full science operations in 2025.

The observatory is on the top of a mountain called Cerro Pachón in the Coquimbo area of Chile. It is on the edge of the Atacama Desert 565 kilometers north of Chile's capital Santiago.

Chile has many of the largest research telescopes in the southern half of the world because of the clear skies above the Atacama Desert, one of Earth's driest places.

Stuartt Corder is chief science officer for AURA, the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy. He is also a director of the NOIRLab center, which will operate the telescope.

He said, "Everything that we needed for operations [is] now on the summit and ready for checkout² and hopefully for installation a little bit later this year."

AURA is a group of 49 U.S. institutions and three international ones. AURA helps operate the astronomical³ observatories⁴ for the National Science Foundation and the U.S. space agency, NASA. It is responsible for operating the NOIRLab center.

The camera will produce around 20 terabytes of data each night. It will take pictures of the sky for 10 years producing a huge database of information about all parts of the sky that can be seen from Chile.

Corder said one of the goals of the exploration will be to understand the nature of dark energy and dark matter in the universe. Scientists say these are forms of energy and matter that exist in theory but have not been observed.

Corder said they are "names we give to things because we don't really know what they are."

Another goal will be to search for and study asteroids⁶ that threaten to strike the Earth or to look for nearby stars and planets.

Corder said the arrival of the camera was "...a really inspiring moment where you can say - we're starting."

And he added, "We're standing⁷ here at the precipice⁸, getting ready to start a campaign that in ten years, we hope will answer the questions of...when the universe was made and started into motion...and how will it continue to evolve in the future?"

The results may be similar to what we already know, Corder said, but they will help refine our understanding the universe.

Words in This Story

digital - adj. using or characterized by computer technology

gigapixel - n. one billion pixels

installation - n. the act or process of making a machine or a service ready to be used in a certain place

asteroid⁵ - n. any one of thousands of small planets that circle around the sun

inspiring - adj. causing people to want to do or create something or to lead better lives

precipice - n. a very steep side of a mountain or cliff

refine - v. to improve (something) by making small changes

1 observatory   

n.天文台，气象台，瞭望台，观测台

参考例句：

• Guy's house was close to the observatory.盖伊的房子离天文台很近。
• Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day.格林威治天文台的职员们每天对大钟检查两次。

2 checkout   

n.（超市等）收银台，付款处

参考例句：

• Could you pay at the checkout.你能在结帐处付款吗。
• A man was wheeling his shopping trolley to the checkout.一个男人正推着购物车向付款台走去。

3 astronomical   

adj.天文学的，（数字）极大的

参考例句：

• He was an expert on ancient Chinese astronomical literature.他是研究中国古代天文学文献的专家。
• Houses in the village are selling for astronomical prices.乡村的房价正在飙升。

4 observatories   

n.天文台，气象台( observatory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• John Heilbron, The Sun in the Church: Cathedrals as Solar Observatories, 3-23. 约翰．海耳布隆，《教会里的太阳：教堂即太阳观测台》，第3-23页。 来自互联网
• Meteorologists use satellites, land observatories and historical data to provide information about the weather. 气象学家使用卫星、上天文台和历史资料来提供有关天气的信息。 来自互联网

5 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

6 asteroids   

n.小行星( asteroid的名词复数 )；海盘车，海星

参考例句：

• Asteroids,also known as "minor planets",are numerous in the outer space. 小行星，亦称为“小型行星”，在外太空中不计其数。
• Most stars probably have their quota of planets, meteorids, comets, and asteroids. 多数恒星也许还拥有若干行星、流星、彗星和小行星。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 precipice   

n.悬崖，危急的处境

参考例句：

• The hut hung half over the edge of the precipice.那间小屋有一半悬在峭壁边上。
• A slight carelessness on this precipice could cost a man his life.在这悬崖上稍一疏忽就会使人丧生。