Exceptional images of the cosmos are now coming to us thanks to an extraordinary camera designed in part by a Belgian company.
Bringing this camera into service involved several hundred scientists from all over the world over a period of almost two decades. Installed at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, this extraordinary camera, the largest in the world, aims to scan the entire sky of the southern hemisphere to obtain a high-definition, four-dimensional film of the evolution of the Universe.
Over the next ten years, this huge three-tonne digital camera will record a view of the southern sky that is as rich and deep as the faintest and most distant objects in the cosmos. With a 3200-megapixel sensor, it is capable of detecting a golf ball 24 km away.
This project, initiated by the United States, benefited from the support of Gantrex, based in Nivelles in Walloon Brabant. A world leader in made-to-measure rail systems, it was this company that was chosen to install a lift system to transport the gigantic lens of the world's largest digital camera to a special room to be cleaned and recoated as required throughout its operation.
A little Belgian touch to this major international project!
