Astronomers unveil biggest 3D map of universe

A still image from a video fly-through of the SDSS-III galaxies

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III), an international project mapping the Milky Way, has unveiled the biggest map of the universe in 3D. 

On Wednesday, astronomers released the map which is made by targeting almost one million galaxies and also includes new spectra from 540,000 galaxies from when the universe was half its present age.

According to scientists, the six-year project which aims to “survey a quarter of the entire sky” began in 2008 at Apache Point Observatory in New Mexico. 

Covering a huge volume corresponding to that of a cube four billion light-years on a side, the map assists scientists in determining the exact locations and distances of more than one million galaxies.

“The current survey is the most extensive ever done and has more than three times the volume of the previous record-holder,” said Daniel Eisenstein the director of the project.

“We want to map the largest volume of the universe yet, and to use that map to understand how the expansion of the universe is accelerating,” he added. 

Using the map, which helps the researchers to retrace the history of the universe, the scientist involved in the project strive to come up with a convincing explanation of the dark matter and dark energy that makes up 96 percent of the world.   

Last year, the SDSS-III released the largest ever color image of the whole sky composed of seven million images, each made of 125 million pixels.

The current survey is the most extensive ever done and has more than three times the volume of the previous record-holder.”
                                                                     Daniel Eisenstein, director of SDSS-III

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