Last year, when we asked what could possibly need an 52sqcm low light sensor, Canon replied with “Space stuff”. Totally proving them right, the Schmidt telescope at the University of Tokyo’s Kiso Observatory now employs it to records faint meteors in the night sky.
The sensor already only requires 1/100th of the light as current sensors need. Not that you’re likely to see this thing in anything other than a massive camera. But it can capture smooth video of space at 60fps. This could be what gives Bruce Willis enough time to mount an assault on an approaching meteor AND survive. [Peta Pixel]