Unveiling the Cosmic Tapestry: DESI's Groundbreaking 3D Map of the Universe

08 April 2024

An international team of astronomers, including Indian scientists from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), has unveiled the most comprehensive and first-of-its-kind 3D map of the universe ever generated.

Universe DESI, a collaboration of over 900 researchers from institutions around the world, accomplished this unique feat. DESI is currently on a five-year quest to measure 40 million galaxies and quasars and generate the largest 3D map of the universe ever built, with the most precise data to date. The instrument began its study in 2021, and researchers recently released their findings from the first year of data collection, which included measurements of the universe's expansion rate and composition.

Scientists have precisely measured the light from over 6 million galaxies using the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which is equipped with 5,000 fiber-positioning robots and a bank of fiber-fed spectrographs.

This has enabled them to peek back into the universe's infancy, providing details about the distribution and movement of galaxies since the beginning of time.

Scientists can now map the universe's expansion history with remarkable precision by examining how the light from these galaxies has been redshifted—stretched out towards the red end of the spectrum as the universe expands. This cosmic cartography not only provides insight into the universe's speeding expansion, which could be powered by dark energy, but it also opens up new avenues for investigating the universe's early epochs, the formation of supermassive black holes, and even testing the limits of gravitational theory.

Image Source: www.desi.lbl.gov