Introducing the World's First 3200-megapixel Images

In September, 2020, the Rubin Observatory LSST Camera team at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory released the first 3200 megapixel digital photos taken using the array of imaging sensors that will be integrated into the LSST Camera at Rubin Observatory. These are the largest images ever captured in single shots, and they are a successful test of the Camera’s focal plane, which was completed at SLAC in January 2020. In order to take these photos without the fully assembled camera, the SLAC team used a 150-micron pinhole to project images onto the focal plane.

The LSST Camera team chose the subjects for the first set of images carefully. One image features a head of Romanesco; a vegetable closely related to broccoli and selected for its very detailed surface structure. Another image, of a print of the Flammarion wood engraving, is often used to invoke the scientific quest for knowledge. Collage images of the LSST Camera team at SLAC, and of the logos from organizations involved in the LSST Camera project, acknowledge the contributions from numerous individuals and institutions that have made these images possible. Finally, an image of Vera C. Rubin, photographed as she worked to answer her own questions about the Universe, was included to honor Rubin Observatory’s namesake.