Scientists have released the largest three-dimensional, or 3D map of the universe ever created.
The map is the result of a project launched more than 20 years ago by an international group of astrophysicists. The project aimed to map the universe using data collected from a telescope in the state of New Mexico, in the southwestern United States.
The effort used observations from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, one of the largest astronomical studies. polls ever carried out. The project received significant funding from the United States-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, a non-profit scientific research organization.
The researchers say the new 3D map produced measurements of more than two million. galaxies and quasars. Scientists defined quasars as “bright galaxies lit by material falling onto a central supermassive black hole.”
The measurements helped the team produce a “complete history of the expansion of the universe,” lead researcher Will Percival said in a statement. Percival is a professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
Especially, Percival said that the 3D map had “completed 11 billion years in our image of the universe.”
Another leader of the research team was Kyle Dawson, professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah. He explained that the 3D map finally provides scientists with information about a large hole in the history of the universe.
“We know the ancient history of the universe and its recent history of expansion quite well, but there is a problem gap in between 11 billion years, “Dawson said in a statement.
The latest research has helped fill that information gap, producing some of the most “substantial progress“In studying the universe for the past 10 years, he added.
The early history of the universe is much better understood due to years of theoretical models and observations of electromagnetic radiation. Galaxy studies and distance measurements also helped scientists better understand much of the universe’s expansion over billions of years.
Astrophysicist Jean-Paul Kneib of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne helped launch the mapping project. He said in a statement that the goal was to produce “the most comprehensive 3D map of the universe throughout the life of the universe.”
The map shows the elements that make up the structure of the universe, “from the time when the universe was only about 300,000 years old.” Allows researchers to measure patterns on how galaxies are positioned.
Dustin Lang is a project researcher at the research center of the Perimeter Institute of Canada. He said the new 3D map can greatly enhance efforts to study individual stars, galaxies, and the universe as a whole. “It really is amazing that an experiment has produced such a scientific study legacy. “
The map suggests that the expansion of the universe began to accelerate at some point and has continued to do so. The researchers said this appears to be caused by the presence of dark energy. Scientists believe that this invisible element conforms to Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The theory of relativity is related to the laws of gravity and describes the motion of large objects.
Comparisons between the latest observations and previous studies of the early universe have shown differences in estimated expansion rates. The currently accepted rate, called the “Hubble constant,” is 10 percent slower than the resulting value of the distances between the closest galaxies to Earth.
I’m Bryan Lynn
Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from Agence France-Presse, the University of Waterloo, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Has been It was the editor.
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Words in this story
three-dimensional – adj. which seems to have length, depth and width
poll – north. An examination of an area where its measurements and details are recorded, especially in order to create a map
galaxy – n. a large group of stars from the same universe
gap – n. a hole or empty space in the middle of something
substantial – adj. big in quantity
move along – n. new discoveries and inventions
Pattern – north. the way something is often done or repeated
legacy – n. something left for people in the future
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