PERCHED atop a mountain in the Chilean Andes, the Dark Energy Camera has taken more than a million images of the southern sky.
The 2.5 billion celestial objects captured in the snaps include galaxies, asteroids, stars, comets and huge supernovae.
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It was key to completing The Dark Energy Survey (DES), an international collaboration that aims to map objects in our galaxy.
Since its launch in 2013, the project has imaged an eighth of the sky, capturing light from galaxies up to 8 billion light-years away.
The ultimate goal is to find patterns that will reveal the nature of the mysterious form of energy known as dark energy.
It is the theoretical driving force behind the accelerating expansion of the universe.
While its presumed existence underpins much of our understanding of the universe, scientists have yet to definitively prove its existence.
The dark energy camera, part of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile, photographed its first stars 10 years ago.
The US Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Lab, where the camera was built, celebrates the anniversary this week.
On Tuesday, the particle physics lab brought to light 15 spectacular photos of the craft.
They include glorious galaxies, near-Earth comets, and a wide shot of the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
While serving as a key component of the Dark Energy Survey, the camera was used to image and analyze other objects in the sky.
He was able to capture light from galaxies up to eight billion light-years away, allowing him to “look back” in time.
The light reaching the instrument from these galaxies is – you guessed it – eight billion years old.
Scientists can use these readings to peer into the galaxy’s past, examining planets and stars that existed long before Earth.
“The Dark Energy Survey, whose scientists are currently analyzing data collected from 2013 to 2019, is not the only experiment to benefit from this powerful equipment,” wrote Lauren Biron of Fermilab.
“Other research groups have also used the camera for additional astronomical observations and surveys.”
The images come as astronomers have identified a nearby galaxy as the point of origin for a mystifying space signal.
The newly discovered space signal is categorized as repetitive fast radio bursts (FRBs) and has been designated ‘FRB 20200120E’, according to a new study published in the journal Nature.
Meanwhile, NASA has revealed stunning images taken by its Chandra X-ray Observatory space telescope.
The images offer a rare glimpse into our universe and sightings of space objects that we technically couldn’t see with the naked eye.
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