NASA’s Ultralow-Noise Superconducting Camera Breaks Scaling Limits

When imaging faint objects such as distant stars or exoplanets, capturing every last bit of light is crucial to get the most out of a scientific mission. These cameras must be extremely low-noise, and be able to detect the smallest quantities of light-single photons. Superconducting cameras excel in both of these criteria, but have historically not been widely applicable because their camera sizes have been small, rarely exceeding a few thousand pixels, which limits their ability to capture high-resolution images. However, a team of researchers has recently shattered that barrier, developing a superconducting camera with 400,000 pixels, which could be used to detect faint astronomical signals in a wide range of wavelengths

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