570 megapixel dark energy camera image © fermilab

after eight years of planning and construction by scientists, engineers, and technicians on three continents, the images of fermilab’s 570-megapixel dark energy camera recorded its first light capture of the southern skies. constructed at the U.S. DOE’s fermi national accelerator laboratory, the new camera is positioned and mounted on the victor blanco telescope at the national science foundation’s CTI observatory in chile.

capable of detecting light from over 100,000 galaxies up to 8 billion light years away in each snapshot, the instrument is composed of an array of 62 charged-coupled devices where it can observe the most sensitive red lights. along with the blanco telescope’s large light-gathering mirror which spans 13 feet across, the new technology will allow scientists from around the world to investigate the studies of asteroids in our solar system to the understanding of the origins and the fate of the universe.

in over five years, the study will create detailed color images of one-eighth of the sky, to discover and measure 300 million galaxies, 100,000 galaxy clusters and 4,000 supernovae.

the dark energy camera featuring 62 charged-coupled devices (CCDs), recording 570 megapixels per snapshot image © fermilab

the dark energy camera mounted on the blanco telescope in chile image © dark energy survey collaboration

the dark energy camera mounted on the blanco telescope in chile image © dark energy survey collaboration

zoomed-in image from the dark energy camera of the center of the globular star cluster 47 tucanae, 17,000 light years from earth image © dark energy survey collaboration

dark energy camera composite image of the small magellanic cloud, 200,000 light years away image © dark energy survey collaboration

dark energy camera image of the fornax cluster of galaxies, 60 million light years away image © dark energy survey collaboration

zoomed-in image of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365, 60 million light years away image © dark energy survey collaboration

the blanco telescope in chile image © NOAO

construction timelapse