Re: NEWS: 1,400 megapixel (1.4 gigapixel) sensor!

In article <tvqdnRP0AIk6XofRnZ2dnUVZ_sudnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Rich <none@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

John Navas <jncl1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in
news:hjkk16teiesl9iq8opmralgq4odeoumi5h@xxxxxxx:

A new telescope facility in Hawaii designed to search for asteroids and
comets which could threaten Earth has been made operational.

The Pan-STARRS 1 telescope will map large portions of the sky each
night
to track not only close space objects, but also exploding stars
(supernovae).

The telescope has been taking science data for six months but is now
operating from dusk-dawn each night.

Pan-STARRS 1 (PS1) is expected to map one-sixth of the sky every month.

The facility boasts a huge digital camera: a 1,400 megapixel (1.4
gigapixel) device that can photograph an area of the sky as large as 36
full Moons in a single exposure.

"Although modest in size, this telescope is on the cutting edge of
technology," said Dr Nick Kaiser, head of the Pan-STARRS project.

The giant digital camera will take over 500 exposures each night,
collecting about four terabytes of data (equivalent to what 1,000 DVDs
can hold).

MORE: <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10340488.stm>


They're doing this now because they know the future holds very bad things
for astronomers. Like massive increase in space junk, which ruin image
when caught on them.

Possibly.

Remember, the first CCD telescope:

1975 - Gerald Smith, Frederick Landauer, and James Janesick use a CCD to
observe Uranus, the first astronomical CCD observation

That was 35 years ago. Surely one could expect continuous development of
CCD and CMOS imaging for astronomy in the mean time.

And as far as seeing past near-Earth space junk, the Hubble is equipped
with several CCD telescopes:

When launched, the HST carried five scientific instruments: the Wide
Field and Planetary Camera (WF/PC), Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph
(GHRS), High Speed Photometer (HSP), Faint Object Camera (FOC) and the
Faint Object Spectrograph (FOS). WF/PC was a high-resolution imaging
device primarily intended for optical observations. It was built by
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and incorporated a set of 48 filters
isolating spectral lines of particular astrophysical interest. The
instrument contained eight charge-coupled device (CCD) chips divided
between two cameras, each using four CCDs. The "wide field camera" (WFC)
covered a large angular field at the expense of resolution, while the
"planetary camera" (PC) took images at a longer effective focal length
than the WF chips, giving it a greater magnification.
.

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