CHILE: Vera Rubin Observatory has begun a 10-year cosmic survey using the largest digital camera ever built to capture deeper images of the southern sky.
The telescope, located on a Chilean mountaintop, will take hundreds of images each night, according to The Associated Press.
Researchers expect the survey to map billions of stars in the Milky Way and billions of galaxies beyond it.
The observatory will photograph the same regions of the sky multiple times. Scientists said this approach should help reveal faint objects that earlier surveys missed.
Phil Marshall, the observatory’s deputy director of operations, said scientists worldwide would use the data set to study the universe in new ways.
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Rubin released its first images last year, including colour views of the Trifid and Lagoon nebulas located thousands of light-years from Earth.
Researchers have since tuned the equipment for the depth and accuracy needed for the decade-long survey, AP reported.
The project could help scientists study how galaxies formed and clustered over billions of years.
The U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy funded the observatory.
The observatory is named after astronomer Vera Rubin, whose work helped provide early evidence for dark matter. Researchers also hope the survey offers clues about dark energy.
