Early data from Dark Energy Survey [NOT TRANSLATED]
Cerro-Tololo-300×194
Although the project began in August 2013, during theScience Verification season (November 2012 to February 2103) the DEcam had already begun collecting data. Now, the catalogues of galaxies and stars derived from these data have been released to the public and can be downloaded from the website of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, which manages the processing of all the images taken for the Dark Energy Survey.
Enrique Gaztañaga, researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) and coordinator of large-scale structure of the Dark Energy Survey, member of the scientific committee, management committee and chairman of external collaborations, said that interest of these data is that “they present simultaneously, very different observable objects in the same region of the sky”. The data collected in this early stage represent only 5% of the survey area that DES is going to study in five years of observation. “Still,” added Gaztañaga “represent the largest catalogues published so far in various aspects such as the number of measurements of gravitational lenses”.
“The catalogues contain positions, brightness, colors, sizes, shapes and distances of 25 million galaxies in an area of 250 square degrees”.
The researcher explained that data will be published regularly but the first official results of the first year of the project will not be presented until summer of 2016. Analysis of these data will help scientists understand the role of dark matter in the formation of galaxies.
In Dark Energy Survey collaborate scientists from 25 institutions in eight countries. The Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) is a founding partner and has participated in the construction of the DEcam, the data analysis and their scientific exploitation.
The Dark Energy Survey (DES) is a project participated by the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC), which aims to find out the causes of the accelerating expansion of the universe, and it counts on the DECam, a camera that will measure the light from more than 300 million galaxies at distances of nine billion light years, installed at the Observatorio Astronómico Interamericano Cerro Tolo, la Serena (Chile).
Although the project began in August 2013, during theScience Verification season (November 2012 to February 2103) the DEcam had already begun collecting data. Now, the catalogues of galaxies and stars derived from these data have been released to the public and can be downloaded from the website of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois, which manages the processing of all the images taken for the Dark Energy Survey.
Enrique Gaztañaga, researcher at the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) and coordinator of large-scale structure of the Dark Energy Survey, member of the scientific committee, management committee and chairman of external collaborations, said that interest of these data is that “they present simultaneously, very different observable objects in the same region of the sky”. The data collected in this early stage represent only 5% of the survey area that DES is going to study in five years of observation. “Still,” added Gaztañaga “represent the largest catalogues published so far in various aspects such as the number of measurements of gravitational lenses”.
“The catalogues contain positions, brightness, colors, sizes, shapes and distances of 25 million galaxies in an area of 250 square degrees”.
The researcher explained that data will be published regularly but the first official results of the first year of the project will not be presented until summer of 2016. Analysis of these data will help scientists understand the role of dark matter in the formation of galaxies.
In Dark Energy Survey collaborate scientists from 25 institutions in eight countries. The Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC) is a founding partner and has participated in the construction of the DEcam, the data analysis and their scientific exploitation. [NOT TRANSLATED]