Scientists are working on what they claim is the world's largest digital camera in a laboratory in the US state of California. The camera is about the size of a small car and weighs three tonnes, the National Accelerator Laboratory in Palo Alto announced.

The largest lens has a diameter of almost 1.6 metres. In total, the camera has 189 sensors and 3.2 gigapixels - and could thus, for example, record a golf ball from a distance of 24 kilometres, according to the researchers.

In 2024, the product, which costs around 168 million dollars, is to be installed in an observatory in the Chilean Andes; it has now been demonstrated to journalists in California beforehand. "The camera is expected to map the southern sky for a decade, creating a treasure trove of data that scientists will use to better understand some of the greatest mysteries of the universe," the lab said.