The Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) has announced that the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has completed its three-dimensional map of the universe. It is the largest and most detailed to date, covering millions of galaxies and quasars to study matter and cosmic expansion over 11 billion years.
How DESI maps the cosmos with precision 🌌
DESI uses 5000 robotic optical fibers mounted on the Mayall Telescope in Arizona. Each fiber captures light from a galaxy or quasar, breaking it down into a spectrum to measure its redshift. This reveals the object's distance and velocity. The automated, massive process has generated a map with millions of data points, offering a detailed view of the large-scale structure of the universe and the influence of dark energy.
The galactic GPS you don't need in your car 🚗
Now we have a map of the universe so detailed that we could use it to avoid getting lost on the trip to Andromeda. Too bad that, for now, it only serves to confirm that we are in a forgotten corner of a cosmic suburb. While scientists celebrate having the coordinates of millions of galaxies, we still don't know where we left the car keys. Dark energy baffles us, but the sofa remains a greater mystery.