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    DESI survey tagged posts

    The DESI legacy imaging survey releases the largest 2D map of the universe

    September 10, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument has released the largest 2D map of the Universe. Credit: NSF NOIRLab

    In 2012, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) was commissioned to measure the effect of dark energy, the mysterious force driving the expansion of the cosmos. Since then, the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys have obtained optical images of tens of millions of galaxies and quasars, including through NOIRLab’s Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO). In recent news, the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team made its 11th data release (DR 11), constituting the largest-ever 2D map of the universe.

    The 5.6-trillion-pixel map contains nearly 4 billion celestial objects, including stars, galaxies, black holes and asteroids...

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    Astronomers spot an extremely rare galaxy mega-merger

    July 8, 2026, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    JWST Image of Stephan's Quintet of galaxies, the left of which (NGC 7320) is much closer to Earth than the other four galaxies in the image. Credit - NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI
    JWST Image of Stephan’s Quintet of galaxies, the left of which (NGC 7320) is much closer to Earth than the other four galaxies in the image. Credit – NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI

    Scale in the universe is hard to understand from a purely human perspective. Many times, the math just doesn’t sit well with our brains, which evolved to capture and process data about the world around us rather than grok the complexities of stellar dynamics and galaxy mergers. But every once in a while, astronomers find something that, if we can wrap our heads around the numbers, gives a sense of just how big the universe is.

    That is precisely what a new paper, available on the arXiv preprint server from a group of astronomers led by Z.L...

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