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Scientists Release Largest 2D Map of the Universe with 5.6 Trillion Pixels
Key points
- 5.6-trillion-pixel map released by DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team.
- Contains nearly 4 billion celestial objects, primarily stars and galaxies.
- Covers approximately 75% of the sky in visible and near-infrared light.
- Data is publicly available for research and citizen science.
New Universal Map Released
The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has released the largest 2D color map of the universe. This map is composed of 5.6 trillion pixels and includes nearly 4 billion celestial objects, predominantly stars and galaxies. The data is accessible to the public through the Legacy Survey Sky Viewer.
Research and Exploration Opportunities
Astronomers and citizen scientists can use this map to explore the universe or combine it with their own observations. The data is expected to facilitate the search for rare phenomena such as gravitational lenses, the observation of transient events like supernovae, and investigations into dark matter and dark energy.
David Schlegel, a co-lead of the Legacy Surveys, noted that the data is now a fundamental part of astronomy research, often serving as a starting point for examining astronomical objects.
Scope and Data Collection
The updated map provides a deep view of the extragalactic universe, covering about 75% of the sky in visible and near-infrared light, avoiding obstruction from the Milky Way's dust and stars. Researchers anticipate this will be the most comprehensive 2D map for years.
Over 160 scientists contributed to data collection, and a team of 20 produced the final dataset. It was compiled from 263,407 telescope exposures from three ground-based sky surveys: the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey (DECaLS), the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey (MzLS), and the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey (BASS). Additional data from NASA’s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite mission and other public sources supplemented this.
Impact on Astronomy
This new map builds upon previous versions from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, which have already been referenced in over 1,800 science papers. Arjun Dey, co-lead of the Legacy Surveys, stated that these data are fundamental to investigating the universe's expansion history and galaxy formation.
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Reporting from
The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team released the largest 2D color map of the universe, containing nearly 4 billion celestial objects and covering 75% of the sky. This publicly available data will aid researchers and citizen scientists in studying phenomena like dark matter, dark energy, gravitational lenses, and supernovae.