3D Map of Distant Galaxies Completed

3D Map of Distant Galaxies Completed
VLT survey shows distribution in space of 90 000 galaxies

For nearly eight years, the VIsible MultiObject Spectrograph (VIMOS) on ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile has been piecing together a three-dimensional map of galaxies in two patches of the southern sky.

A total of 440 hours of observing time has gone into measuring the spectra of more than 90 000 distant galaxies, producing a map of a 24-square-degree region on the sky, out to a distance corresponding to when the Universe was around half its current age.

The positions in space of just some of the galaxies identified by the VIPERS survey. This is one of two "slices" through the Universe produced from the survey data. It shows where the galaxies lie as we look to ever greater distances in space corresponding to looking further back in time.

Data like these allow astronomers to study the evolution of galaxies as a constituent of the Universe, and tell us about how space itself evolves over time.

https://youtu.be/dmArPfz2ryg
Credit: B. Granett, L. Guzzo & the VIPERS Collaboration

http://www.eso.org/public/announcements/ann16086

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