3.2 billion pixel Camera (Yes, Billion!)

A 3.2 billion-pixel digital camera designed by SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is now one step closer to reality. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope camera, which will capture the widest, fastest and deepest view of the night sky ever observed, has received “Critical Decision 1” approval by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to move into the next stage of the project.

The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) will survey the entire visible sky every week, creating an unprecedented public archive of data – about 6 million gigabytes per year, the equivalent of shooting roughly 800,000 images with a regular eight-megapixel digital camera every night, but of much higher quality and scientific value. Its deep and frequent cosmic vistas will help answer critical questions about the nature of dark energy and dark ...

“With 189 sensors and over 3 tons of components that have to be packed into an extremely tight space, you can imagine this is a very complex instrument,” said Nadine Kurita, the project manager for the LSST camera at SLAC. “But given the enormous challenges required to provide such a comprehensive view of the universe, it’s been an incredible opportunity to design something so unique.”

Now that the LSST camera has passed Critical Decision 1, the project begins a detailed engineering design, schedule, and budget phase. While the DOE funds the design and construction of the camera, the full cost and logistics of the new telescope are being shared by the DOE and the National Science Foundation, as well as a large partnership of public and private organizations in the United States and abroad.

“This is the culmination of years of work by a large group of dedicated people,” said SLAC’s Steven Kahn, LSST deputy project director and leader of the DOE-funded effort on LSST. “I’ve personally been working on this since 2003, and it is tremendously satisfying to finally see this move forward to the point when we can begin to carry out the project.” If all continues as planned, construction on the telescope will begin in 2014. Preliminary work...As the primary component of all energy in the universe, the still-mysterious dark energy is perhaps the most important research target for LSST and the physicists who are building it. Yet that’s only a start. LSST’s fire hose of publicly available data will allow astronomers the world over to view faint and rapidly changing objects, create 3D maps and time lapses of the night sky and detail Pluto’s celestial neighborhood, the Kuiper belt."Not only should LSST revolutionize our understanding of the universe, its contents and the laws that govern its behavior, but it will also transform the way all of us, from kindergarteners to professional astrophysicists, use telescopes,” said Tony Tyson, LSST director and a professor of physics at the University of California, Davis. “These are exciting times!".

 LSST and Calypso

Two renderings combine to create this image of the LSST summit facility and Calypso, the small adjacent atmospheric telescope. March 2011
(Image credit: LSST Corporation)

A combination of two renderings, showing the telescope on the summit. March 2011 (Image credit: LSST Corporation)

In this artist's rendition, the LSST primary mirror is seen through the slit of the dome at sunset. The LSST will carry out a deep, ten-year imaging survey in six broad optical bands over the main survey area of 18,000 square degrees. 2011 (Image credit: Todd Mason, Mason Productions Inc. / LSST Corporation)A simulated night sky provides a background for the LSST facilities building on Cerro Pachón. The LSST will carry out a deep, ten-year imaging survey in six broad optical bands over the main survey area of 18,000 square degrees. 2011 (Image credit: Todd Mason, Mason Productions Inc. / LSST Corporation)

LSST Facility exterior at night.

A colorful night sky provides a background for the LSST facilities building on Cerro Pachón. The LSST will carry out a deep, ten-year imaging survey in six broad optical bands over the main survey area of 18,000 square degrees. 2011 (Image credit: Todd Mason, Mason Productions Inc. / LSST Corporation)

LSST Optical Elements at sunset.

The optical elements of the LSST appear suspended over the coplanar primary/tertiary mirror. The secondary mirror, camera lenses and filters are also visible. 2011
(Image credit: Todd Mason, Mason Productions Inc. / LSST Corporation)

LSST telescope

The 8.4-meter LSST will use a special three-mirror design, creating an exceptionally wide field of view and will have the ability to survey the entire sky in only three nights.
(Image credit: LSST Corporation)

LSST telescope in the dome

A cut-away view showing a rendering of the LSST in the dome, current as of January 2009

7 ways to beat your worries

Can’t stop worrying? Try out our seven ways to beat the bother and boost your happiness. Whilst worrying is necessary for spurring us on to achieve our goals, chronic worrying can disrupt the balance in our nervous system and be detrimental to our health. Here are seven ways to wash away your worries:

How to stop worrying, tip 1: Forget the things you can’t change
If you’re worrying about something that’s happened in the past, you need to stop. The power of your mind isn’t strong enough to solve problems through panic, so it’s important to beat your worries by thinking logically and tackling them head-on. Bad memories from the past are toxic to our health and highly counterproductive so you must bury the burdens of your past and move on.

How to stop worrying, tip 2: Write a worry list
Write down everything you’re worried about; the bills, your job, the car MOT – everything. Then rate them on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the things that are concerning you most. You can then turn your worry list into an action list. Take action on the worries that you rated the highest first, and then work through the rest of the list. You will feel a sense of relief each time you tick a worry off, and this is a sure-fire way to boost your happiness and relieve your worries.

How to stop worrying, tip 3: Discipline your thoughts
If you’re a chronic worrier, you need to learn to take control of your thoughts rather than letting them take control of you. To do this, every time you think a negative thought, you must turn it into a positive. Every time you worry, think “is this really helpful?” If the answer is no, turn the thought into a positive or forget it completely. Whilst this may seem difficult at first, it will eventually become second nature and you will find that turning a negative into a positive is a much more constructive way of dealing with your thoughts.

How to stop worrying, tip 4: Distract yourself through relaxation
When we’re worried – particularly about a number of things at once – our brains don’t tend to find a logical solution to our problems. In order to think logically, we must take the time to relax and unwind. Breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. After a couple of minutes of relaxation, the tension will leave your body and you will be in a better position to tackle the problem from a fresh perspective.Woman relaxing in bath with candles

How to stop worrying, tip 5: Talk to friends and family
A problem shared is a problem halved. Talk to your family, your friends, or a doctor if you have a good relationship with them. Sometimes saying your problems out loud can get your thoughts straight in your head and if you’re worrying about something useless, saying it out loud can make you realise that it’s just not worth the worry. With those close to you, you can laugh, cry, and moan as much as you like without being judged and this is a healthy way to relieve stress.

How to stop worrying, tip 6: Confront the problem head-on
Some worries can’t be tamed through talking to others or relaxation. A problem that won’t go away until you physically do something about it needs to be confronted head-on. Sometimes, we have so much on our mind that we don’t know what to deal with first. Make a decision on which problem you want to solve and how you will go about it, and then stick to it. You will probably find that once you resolve the problem, you’ll wish you’d done something about it sooner.

How to stop worrying tip 7: Put things into perspective
Don’t be overwhelmed by small things; try and see the bigger picture. Is your problem really as bad as you’re making it out to be? The chances are there will be many people worse off than you. Instead of zoning in on certain things and panicking about them, put everything into perspective. Does this problem affect your entire life? Will you still be panicking about this in a few weeks or months time? If the answer is no, then it’s really not worth the worry.