DarkEnergySpectroscopicInstrument
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DOE to start building a tool that will 3D map the universe
Next year, the Department of Energy will start building the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which will 3D map millions of galaxies across the universe. The agency-backed project has passed "Critical Decision 3" almost a year after it went through the second phase of approval. That means DOE has OK'd its construction and will provide the funding needed to finish manufacturing its camera's 5,000 10-inch-long cylindrical robots. See that pizza slice-like contraption in the image above? It's one of the camera's ten "petals." Each hole in a petal houses a robot, and the ten petals will carry a total of 5,000. All those machines will point fiber-optic cables to the sky to gather light from distant worlds.
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument will 3D map the universe
The quest to better understand our known universe took a step in the right direction today with the U.S. Department of Energy approving "Critical Decision 2," authorizing the building of components for the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Previous efforts to create Dark Energy maps will be further explored with the help of the DESI, a giant instrument that will target 30 million galaxies and quasars to create a 3D map that will date back 10 billion light-years. The project, spearheaded by the University of Michigan, is being conducted to understand the fundamentals of Dark Energy, a force that competed with gravity to shape the universe in its infancy.
