Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

Up to 95% of the universe is made up of mysterious Dark Matter and Dark Energy. We can see the gravitational influence of Dark Matter and attribute the accelerating expansion of the universe to Dark Energy, but both remain invisible to direct detection. We’ll explore some initial results from an effort to understand the past 11 billion years of expansion history in the U.S. National Science Foundation’s “Discovery Files”.
Funded primarily by the Department of Energy Office of Science and Mounted on NSF’s 4-meter Nicholas U. Mayall Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument or DESI, is collecting light from tens of millions of galaxies across more than a third of the entire sky, measuring their recession velocities. Over its five-year mission, DESI will create the largest 3D map of the universe ever.
In the recently reported results of its first year, DESI has surpassed all previous surveys of its kind in terms of quantity and quality. Observing a new set of up to 5000 galaxies every 20 minutes and mapping the expansion rate of the universe out to 11 billion years.
Using Baryon Acoustic Oscillations, the leftover imprint of pressure waves that permeated the early universe, as a cosmic ruler, DESI astronomers can measure the spread of the ripples across several periods of cosmic history to see how dark energy has stretched the scale over time.
The results provide an intriguing new piece of the puzzle to understanding the universe, while pioneering techniques that will shape and drive future astrophysical studies.
To hear more science and engineering news, including the researchers making it, subscribe to "NSF's Discovery Files" podcast.