Bill Gates and ex-Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi have donated a combined $30 million to the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, which will feature the largest digital camera ever constructed. Scientists say it will provide a “color movie” of the universe.

Its speed and wide field will allow scientists to constantly scan the sky, turning out time-lapse movies of the dynamic universe surrounding us. The ability to quickly detect changes in the sky will also help scientists spot asteroids. It will generate an estimated 1.2 gigabytes per second, orders of magnitude more data than the most data-intense astronomical application available today.

It is planned to come online in 2014 at its home atop the Andean peak of Cerro Pachon in Chile.