{"id":7818,"date":"2026-04-15T13:24:03","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/?p=7818"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:36:18","slug":"guardare-luniverso-con-1-140-occhi-canon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/guardare-luniverso-con-1-140-occhi-canon\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking at the universe with 1,140 Canon eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Astronomy & Optics \u2014 April 2026<\/p>\n

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MOTHRA is not like every other telescope. It is a creature made of telephoto lenses, born to see what no mirror has ever seen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

 <\/p>\n

Every time I read about an astronomical project that mentions Canon in a scientific press release, I stop. I sit down. I reread from the beginning.<\/p>\n

This time it's MOTHRA\u2014\u00a0Massive Optical Telephoto Hyperspectral Robotic Array<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 a telescope under construction in the Chilean R\u00edo Hurtado valley, at the El Sauce Observatory. A name that evokes a Japanese monster from the fifties, and in a way, that's exactly what it is: a colossal creature that defies the laws of conventional optics, but assembled not with glass of impossible dimensions, but with telephoto lenses used for reporting. The same ones photographers use at the edges of soccer fields or at the foot of athletic tracks.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n

MOTHRA project in assembly phase. Image source to add (NASA \/ public domain recommended).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the heart of the array there are\u00a01.140 Canon EF 400mm f\/2.8L IS Lenses<\/strong>, arranged on 30 robotic mounts, 38 optics per group. The idea \u2014 brilliant in its simplicity \u2014 is to sum the light-gathering capability of hundreds of high-end photographic optics to achieve the equivalent of a\u00a04.7-meter diameter target<\/strong>. Without mirrors. Without the colossal architecture of large, traditional observatories.<\/p>\n

No giant mirror. Only the light multiplying, lens after lens, until it becomes something the human eye has never contemplated.<\/div>\n
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 <\/p>\n

Technical Specification \u00b7 MOTHRA<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Total optics<\/p>\n

1.140 Canon EF 400mm f\/2.8L IS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Configuration<\/p>\n

30 frames \u00b7 38 optics each<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Equivalent aperture<\/p>\n

4.7 m diameter<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sensors<\/p>\n

Sony IMX571 \/ IMX455<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Location<\/p>\n

El Sauce Observatory \u00b7 Chile<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Scientific objective<\/p>\n

Ionized gas \u00b7 Cosmic web<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Why the 400mm f\/2.8, and why EF<\/h2>\n

The choice of optics isn't romantic, but it is precise. Researchers from Yale and Toronto universities\u2014Pieter van Dokkum and Roberto Abraham, the two astronomers behind the project\u2014selected the Canon EF 400mm f\/2.8L IS for its superior optical performance and anti-reflective coatings, which are essential when trying to intercept the faint emissions of the universe.<\/p>\n

But there's a detail that I find even more curious, and that speaks to me as a photographer: they chose the version\u00a0EF, not RF<\/strong>. The motivation is purely technical\u2014the EF mount's flange focal distance allows for the integration of astronomy-specific accessories that the RF system, while more modern, does not permit due to its different geometry. It's a choice that reminds me how practical needs always override market trends.<\/p>\n

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Each group includes 38 Canon optics paired with the latest generation Sony CMOS sensors.<\/p>\n

From Dragonfly to MOTHRA: Ten Times More Powerful<\/h2>\n

MOTHRA is not born out of nothing. It's the radical evolution of the Dragonfly Telephoto Array, a project I've followed with curiosity over the years: starting in 2013 with just three identical Canon lenses in New Mexico, growing to 48 units by 2021. A brave experiment, born from the conviction that the sum of many small eyes could be worth more than a single huge eye.<\/p>\n

With MOTHRA, van Dokkum and Abraham determined that observing the diffuse ionized gas between galaxies \u2013 and mapping the theoretical dark matter structure we call the \u201ccosmic web\u201d \u2013 would require a tenfold increase in power compared to previous instruments. One thousand one hundred and forty targets are the answer.<\/p>\n

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Already at work, despite everything<\/h2>\n

Construction began in January 2026, and completion is expected by the end of the year. Yet, even at this partial stage, MOTHRA has produced images of extraordinary scientific value: among the first observations are the galaxy\u00a0NGC 253<\/strong>\u00a0and the nebula\u00a0RCW 114<\/strong>, also known as the Dragon's Heart Nebula. A name that seems tailor-made for a telescope named after a winged monster.<\/p>\n

What strikes me, every time I find myself telling stories like this, is the double life of photographic instruments. A lens is born with a running athlete, a bird in flight, a face in the rain in mind. And then it ends up in Chile, pointed at an invisible gas connecting galaxies billions of light-years away. Optics doesn't know the difference. It collects light. And light is light, whether it comes from a soccer field or the dawn of the universe.<\/p>\n

Optics doesn't know where light comes from. It just collects it. Whether it comes from a soccer field or the dawn of the universe.<\/div>\n

 <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Astronomia & Ottica \u2014 Aprile 2026 MOTHRA non \u00e8 un telescopio come tutti gli altri. \u00c8 una creatura fatta di […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102044,"featured_media":7820,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[764],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mondoarteefotografia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/photoworld.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}