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Detector technology

CCD

The charge-coupled device, the detector that transformed optical astronomy — a silicon chip that converts light into electric charge with high efficiency and low noise, read out pixel by pixel. It replaced photographic plates and remains the standard optical detector; Rubin's camera is built from a mosaic of them.

Highlights

  • The chip that replaced the photographic plate

Used across the frontier

Knowledge connections

Sources

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

  • NSF NOIRLabNSF National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory

    Ground-based optical/infrared observatory data and imagery.