World's Largest Submillimeter Camera Ready for Use

The 10,000 superconducting sensors experts at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) installed inside the Submillimeter Common-Use Bolometer Array (SCUBA2) camera are finally ready to use. The instrument is now the largest submillimeter camera in the world.

Installed on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, atop Mauna Kea, in Hawaii, the 4.5-ton device will be used to create in-depth survey maps of the sky, analyze various targets astronomers establish for it, and create high-resolution views of the deep Universe.

It will be able to do all these things considerably faster than its predecessor, SCUBA1, and a lot faster than any other camera of its type. Additionally, it will be used to search targets for in-depth studies to be conducted with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA).

When completed, ALMA will be the largest radio observatory in the world.