Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

1,400 Megapixel Pan-STARRS Telescope Comes Online

Posted by timothy on from the don't-get-your-panstarrs-in-a-bunch dept.

ElectricSteve writes "Astronomers in Hawaii have announced they've successfully managed to boot up the Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) telescope. Working from dusk to dawn every night, Pan-STARRS is able to map one-sixth of the sky each month, allowing astronomers to track all moving objects, calculate their orbits, and identify any potential threats to Earth. There are four Pan-STARRS cameras in total, each capable of capturing around 1.4 billion pixels over a sensor measuring 40 centimeters square. The focal plane of each camera contains an almost complete 64x64 array of CCD devices, each containing approximately 600x600 pixels, for a total resolution of 1.4 gigapixels."

5 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. That's a lot of pixels by symbolset · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Automation is good, but where are they going to get the humans to evaluate the gigabits per second of data? Are they looking for a volunteer effort, or have they got it?

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
    1. Re:That's a lot of pixels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That's where the automation comes in.

    2. Re:That's a lot of pixels by chichilalescu · · Score: 2, Insightful

      it's kind of sad, but in today's big cities you can't see stars. Light pollution, smog, whatever.
      personally, at some point I am going to miss them enough to go to a website where they want me to watch starry skies.

      --
      new sig
  2. Looking in the wrong direction? by Psaakyrn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Somehow, I think there are more threats to Earth down here than up there..

    1. Re:Looking in the wrong direction? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      If only there was more than one human being alive on the earth so that we might be able to address more than one threat at a time. Oh wait...