The 189 individual sensors under development for inclusion in the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile have snapped their first images. The charge-coupled devices tested at the U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory generated the largest digital photos — composed of 3,200 megapixels, each about 10 microns wide — ever produced.
To capture photos without the fully assembled camera, researchers used a 150 micron pinhole to project images onto the focal plane. The focal plane is more than 2 ft wide, large enough to capture a portion of the 
The complete focal plane of the camera is more than 2 feet wide and contains 189 individual sensors that will produce 3,200-megapixel images. Source: Jacqueline Orrell/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratorysky about the size of 40 full moons and intended to be deployed at the Rubin Observatory to image the entire Southern Hemisphere sky every few nights. Imaging sensors in the fully assembled telescope will be able to spot objects 100 million times dimmer than those visible to the naked eye.
The focal plane sits inside a cryostat where the sensors are cooled down to the required operating temperature of -150° F. The next goal is to place the cryostat in the camera body and install lenses, including the world’s largest optical lens, a shutter and a filter exchange system for studies of the night sky in different colors. Final tests are scheduled for mid-2021 prior to system installation at the Rubin Observatory.
