1,400 Megapixel Pan-STARRS Telescope Comes Online 54
ElectricSteve writes "Astronomers in Hawaii have announced they've successfully managed to boot up the Pan-STARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System) telescope. Working from dusk to dawn every night, Pan-STARRS is able to map one-sixth of the sky each month, allowing astronomers to track all moving objects, calculate their orbits, and identify any potential threats to Earth. There are four Pan-STARRS cameras in total, each capable of capturing around 1.4 billion pixels over a sensor measuring 40 centimeters square. The focal plane of each camera contains an almost complete 64x64 array of CCD devices, each containing approximately 600x600 pixels, for a total resolution of 1.4 gigapixels."
identify any potential threats to Earth. (Score:4, Funny)
"Great news, colonel. What's the next strategic step."
"Bring a towel".
what would you call this resolution? (Score:2, Funny)
Sign Me Up!!! (Score:5, Funny)
AWWW RIGHT!!!! Where do I sign up? oh wait, Pan-STARSS... nevermind... thought it read 1,400 Megapixel Porn-STARSS.....
No match for... (Score:3, Funny)
Well that's great, it's nice to be able to see distant objects.
But what if you want to SMELL distant objects! yeah! That's why it's no match for my smell-o-scope here. Now that I've perfected the stench coils and installed an automatic lens-cheese remover, you can rest easy knowing you'll soon be smelling astronomical odors thanks to me! // Yay Futurama is back!
Re:That's a lot of pixels (Score:3, Funny)
Re:identify any potential threats to Earth. (Score:5, Funny)
You can't seriously expect me to accept your offer without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat for three months, can you.
Not "any" threats (Score:3, Funny)
The article says Pan-STARRS can "identify any potential threats to Earth", but it can only find asteroids and comets that are about to hit us. They don't claim to be able to spot other threats, such as:
Stupid gadget blogs, over-hyping stuff as usual.