NGC 1565, also known as the Spanish Dancer, a spiral galaxy in the constellation Dorado – DECAMM, DES COLLABORATION
MADRID, Jan 15 (EUROPA PRESS) –
Some 700 million astronomical objects have been carefully cataloged and made public as part of the international astronomical collaboration DAS (Dark Energy Survey).
This project now has mapped about one eighth of the night sky, which goes back almost to the beginning of time in some cases. This makes it one of the largest astronomical catalogs in the world.
Its architects hope that the project can answer some of our biggest questions when it comes to our Universe, including what it is made of and how it began.
“This is the culmination of years of effort. In addition to mapping hundreds of millions of galaxies, thousands of supernovae (exploding stars) have been discovered,” he said it’s a statement Christopher Lidman, from the Australian National University (ANU) and a member of the study.
The Dark Energy Survey began collecting data in 2013 using a state-of-the-art astronomical camera attached to a four-meter aperture telescope in northern Chile.
At the same time, the Anglo-Australian telescope, located in Australia and operated by ANU on behalf of a group of 13 Australian universities, was used to measure exact distances to many of the objects and to confirm the nature of supernovae.
“Hundreds of researchers from many countries have worked together for two decades to achieve this common goal. “ Lidman said.
According to ANU co-author Tamara Davis, the huge volume of data will allow the research team to measure the history of cosmic expansion and the growth of large-scale structures in the universe, “which reflect nature and the amount of dark energy in the universe”.
“I am excited to use the data to investigate the nature of dark energy, which should reveal what is behind the acceleration of the expansion of the universe, one of the greatest mysteries in science“, said.