SLAC completes construction of the largest digital camera ever built for astronomy | SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

Among the partner labs that contributed expertise and technology are Brookhaven National Laboratory, which built the camera’s digital sensor array; Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which with its industrial partners designed and built lenses for the camera; and the National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics at the National Center for Scientific Research (IN2P3/CNRS) in France, which contributed to sensor and electronics design and built the camera’s filter exchange system, which will allow the camera to home in on six separate bands of light from the ultraviolet to infrared.

Paul O’Connor, a senior physicist in Brookhaven’s Instrumentation Division, said, “The team at Brookhaven Lab, some of whom have been working on the project for more than 20 years, is excited to see the completion of the LSST Camera. Our fast, ultra-sensitive CCD modules, which we developed with multiple collaborators, will contribute to the breakthrough science delivered by the Rubin Observatory over the next decade, and we look forward to collaborating on this flagship astronomical survey.”

A key feature of the camera’s optical assemblies are its three lenses, one of which at 1.57 meters (5.1 feet) in diameter is believed to be the world’s largest high-performance optical lens ever fabricated. “The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is extremely proud to have had the opportunity to design and oversee the fabrication of the large lenses and optical filters for the LSST Camera, including the largest lens in the world,” said Vincent Riot, a LLNL engineer and the former LSST Camera project manager. “LLNL was able to leverage its expertise in large optics, built over decades of developing the world’s largest laser systems, and is excited to see this unprecedented instrument completed and ready to make its journey to the Rubin Observatory.”