Scientists create huge 3D map of the universe
The project will allow for the study of Dark Energy - a mystery force
that is driving the universe to expand more and more quickly
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Hundreds of scientists have made the biggest ever 3D map of the
universe and could uncover some of its biggest mysteries.The huge map
has let experts precisely measure Dark Energy, the mystery force that's
causing the universe to expand at an increasing speed.
The map amounts to a huge survey of the universe. And using it they
will be able to see just what that Dark Energy is doing, by looking at
the changes that are taking place.
Dr Rita Tojeiro, from the University of St Andrews in Scotland, who
co-led the international team, said: "Over the last decade we have
prepared and conducted the largest survey of the universe yet.
"By measuring the positions of 1.2 million galaxies over one quarter
of the sky, we mapped the three-dimensional structure of the Universe
over a volume of 650 cubic billion light years. Using this map we were
able to make some of the crispest measurements yet of how Dark Energy is
driving the expansion of the universe."
Hundreds of scientists worked together in a British-led team to pull
the map together. The work relied on the Baryon Oscillation
Spectroscopic Survey, or Boss, which looked at "pressure waves" that
travel through the universe.
"We see a dramatic connection between the sound wave imprints seen in
the cosmic microwave background 400,000 years after the Big Bang to the
clustering of galaxies 7-12 billion years later," said Dr Tojeiro.
- The Independent
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