All the news about DES that’s fit to print!
Dark Energy Survey Releases First Three Years of Data
Free, detailed information on 400 million astronomical objects, anybody? Just visit the website of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) – it’s there for the taking. At a special session of the 231st meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington, D.C., scientists presented the first data release (DR1) of the survey, containing observations that were collected between mid-2013 and early 2016. Among the preliminary results: eleven new stellar streams in the Milky Way galaxy and new constraints on cosmological parameters.
The Dark Energy Survey is carried out with the giant Dark Energy Camera (DECam) at the 4-meter Blanco Telescope of the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. Built at Fermilab in Chicago, DECam sports 62 sensitive CCDs with a grand total of 570 million pixels. The 4-ton camera has a huge 3-square-degree field of view. The survey’s main goal is to solve the riddle of dark energy – the mystery force behind the accelerating expansion of the universe.
Dark Energy Survey spots remains of 11 galaxies devoured by the Milky Way
The first intriguing findings have been released from the Dark Energy Survey, a project that’s studying the sky to find clues about the mysterious force that seems to be accelerating the expansion of the universe. And among the data is the discovery of 11 new stellar streams, the remains of smaller galaxies that our own Milky Way has torn to shreds.
The Milky Way ATE 11 other galaxies as its grew, groundbreaking dark energy survey finds
Scientists examining an exhaustive survey of roughly 400 million objects in the cosmos have discovered incredible new insight on the violent ‘eating’ habits of the Milky Way.
Preliminary results from the Dark Energy survey have revealed a stunning look at the remains of 11 smaller galaxies that have been devoured by our own, reducing them to stellar streams.
As these objects are typically very difficult to spot, scientists say the most recent find could pave the way for other important discoveries about our universe – such as narrowing down the properties of dark matter.
Our Milky Way as a “melting pot”
It’s well known in astronomy that – when we look up at night – all the stars we see belong to our Milky Way galaxy. But astronomers are coming to understand that not all Milky Way stars were born here. Instead, some stars appear to have migrated to our galaxy from other galaxies. The evidence comes from streams of stars detected in our night sky, thought to be created when small galaxies interact with our Milky Way. At last week’s meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Washington D.C., astronomers announced the discovery of 11 new stellar streams, discovered in data from the ongoing Dark Energy Survey (DES).
Dark Energy Survey publicly releases first three years of data
At a special session held during the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, D.C., scientists on the Dark Energy Survey (DES) announced today the public release of their first three years of data. This first major release of data from the Survey includes information on about 400 million astronomical objects, including distant galaxies billions of light-years away as well as stars in our own galaxy.
DES scientists are using this data to learn more about dark energy, the mysterious force believed to be accelerating the expansion of the universe, and presented some of their preliminary cosmological findings in the special session. As part of that session, DES scientists also announced today the discovery of 11 new stellar streams, remnants of smaller galaxies torn apart and devoured by our Milky Way.
The public release of the first three years of DES data fulfills a commitment scientists on the survey made to share their findings with the astronomy community and the public. The data cover the full DES footprint – about 5,000 square degrees, or one eighth of the entire sky — and include roughly 40,000 exposures taken with the Dark Energy Camera. The images correspond to hundreds of terabytes of data and are being released along with catalogs of hundreds of millions of galaxies and stars.
University of Sussex physicists help discover new stellar streams
Scientists from the University of Sussex, headed up by Professor of Astrophysics, Kathy Romer, are part of a team of 100 physicists from around the world who journeyed to Chile to study ‘dark energy’.
This week, Professor Romer and her colleagues have released the first three years’ of data from the Dark Energy Survey, announced at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington, DC on Wednesday 10 January. This first major release of data from the survey includes information on around 400 million astronomical objects, including distant galaxies billions of light years away as well as stars in our own galaxy.
Chilean children name newly discovered Milky Way streams
The Dark Energy Survey discovered nearly a dozen new stellar streams in three years of DES data. Stellar streams are the remains of dwarf galaxies and star clusters that have been ripped apart by the gravitational force of the Milky Way. These streams provide important information about the formation history of the Milky Way and can be used to trace the local distribution of dark matter. The unprecedented sensitivity and coverage of three-year DES data set has allowed us to search for fainter and more distant streams than ever before. Read the full paper (and all paper associated with this press release) here.
Dark Energy Survey publicly releases first three years of data
The public release of the first three years of DES data fulfills a commitment scientists on the survey made to share their findings with the astronomy community and the public. The data cover the full DES footprint – about 5,000 square degrees, or one eighth of the entire sky – and include roughly 40,000 exposures taken with the Dark Energy Camera. The images correspond to hundreds of terabytes of data and are being released along with catalogs of hundreds of millions of galaxies and stars.
Rivers in the sky
Most of the time, the Dark Energy Camera in Chile stares out into the deepest regions of space, measuring light from distant galaxies. But this gigantic eye sometimes discovers things closer to home—like the 11 newly found stellar streams that the Dark Energy Survey announced today. For a few lucky groups in Chile and Australia, this meant an extraordinary opportunity: getting to name an object in space.
“The people were very enthusiastic,” says Kyler Kuehn, a scientist with the Dark Energy Survey who coordinated the outreach effort in Australia. “I don’t know if they are aware how rarely people get to name things that are newly discovered in space—or anywhere, for that matter—but I was pretty excited about it.”
A night in the deep beyond – Brian Schmidt hosts three international astrophysicists, discussing dark energy, unseen planets, and gravitational waves
7PM-8:30PM TUESDAY 7TH NOVEMBER, 2017
THE UNIVERSITY OF QUEENSLAND, ST LUCIA, STEELE BUILDING (3), THEATRE 206
You’re invited to a night of astrophysics adventure! Join Brian Schmidt, Nobel Prize winner, as he presents three exciting international astrophysicists from the Dark Energy Survey, Professor Risa Wechsler, Professor David Gerdes and Professor Marcelle Soares-Santos. Learn about gravitational waves and black holes, hear about whether there’s a ninth planet in our solar system far beyond Pluto, and learn how to simulate the entire universe in your (rather high end) computer.
