🌅 The Largest 3D Map of the Universe Ever Created

SOURCE

NOIRLab

WHAT TO KNOW

• Astronomers using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) in Arizona published the largest high-resolution 3D map of the universe ever created, capturing more than 47 million galaxies and quasars (extremely bright distant galaxies with black holes at their cores) and another 20 million stars. The five-year survey of the sky was a massive global endeavor, bringing together the expertise of more than 900 researchers at 70 institutions around the world. DESI uses 5,000 fiber-optic eyes to observe up to 100,000 galaxies and stars each night, locking onto distant pinpricks of light every 20 minutes.

WHY IT MATTERS

• When DESI began collecting data in May 2021, the team set a goal of capturing “only” 34 million galaxies and cosmic objects in the survey, which the team ultimately blew past with ease. DESI’s data already includes six times as many galaxies and quasars as all previous measurements combined, and the map will grow by another 20% as astronomers continue observations through 2028.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Researchers will use DESI’s data for decades to come as they investigate the ever-mysterious thing that binds our universe together, called dark energy. The fundamental ingredient of the universe makes up about 70% of all energy and matter, and is the driving force behind its accelerating expansion.