ESA develops million pixel camera to map Milky Way
1 min read
The European Space Agency (ESA) has completed the design of what it says is the largest ever digital camera for space mission.
The million pixel device comprises 106 charge coupled devices in a 0.5 x 1m array. According to the organisation, it will be used to map more than a billion stars as part of its five year Galaxy mapping Gaia mission.
The charge coupled devices have been developed specifically for the mission by Chelmsford based firm e2v Technologies. The rectangular detectors are said to be a little smaller than a credit card, but thinner than a human hair. Each one measures 4.7 x 6cm.
"The completed mosaic is arranged in seven rows of detectors," explained Philippe Garé, ESA's Gaia payload manager. "The main array comprises 102 detectors dedicated to star detection. Four others check the image quality of each telescope and the stability of the 106.5º angle between the two telescopes that Gaia uses to obtain stereo views of stars."
According to Garé, Gaia will be able to sample 1% of the stars in the Milky Way, and is also expected to pick up information about objects such as asteroids, distant quasars and 'edge of the universe' galaxies. It is scheduled for launch in 2013.
