The Digital Press

The Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile houses the world’s largest digital camera, designed to map the night sky with unprecedented detail by capturing 3.2 billion pixels per image. Its first public images are set for release on June 23, promising vast new data for astronomers.

Why it matters: The observatory will catalog 20 billion galaxies and 17 billion stars, revolutionizing our understanding of the southern sky.

Stunning stat: Each image contains 3.2 billion pixels, takes 15 seconds to capture, and only 2 seconds to download.

The big picture: The observatory will produce 20 terabytes of data nightly, processed across facilities in California, France, and Britain.

Commenters say: Users are amazed by the massive data flow and resolution but express concern over satellite streak interference and data filtering.