A Cosmic Snapshot of Epic Proportions: Exploring the Milky Way with the Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey
After two years of data-gathering and analysis, a team of astronomers has unveiled a truly stunning image of the Milky Way. This snapshot, taken with the Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey, reveals the reddish-brown dust clouds that clump along the centerline of our galaxy, teeming with over 3 billion stars. But the project isn’t just about capturing the beauty of our cosmic home – it also aims to index celestial objects located in the galactic plane and to measure the amount of dust that distorts our view of the cosmos.
The Challenge of Imaging Our Galactic Home
The Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey is based at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and is the largest catalog of stars ever collected by a single instrument. However, imaging our galactic plane is no easy feat. Most astronomers shy away from this task, as the stars are densely packed and the view is crowded. Additionally, dust and hot gas can mask the light of the stars, skewing astronomers’ measurements of stellar brightnesses and positions.
Unveiling the Mysteries of the Milky Way
The data collected by the Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey will help astronomers to filter out the effects of dust and accurately measure the chemistry and position of stars. Over the next decade, this catalog will be used to create galactic dust maps, track down ancient star systems, and study the formation and structure of our Milky Way.
By peering into the depths of our galaxy, the Dark Energy Camera Plane Survey has opened up a new window into the mysteries of the Milky Way. With this snapshot of cosmic proportions, the team of astronomers has created a space selfie that will help us to better understand our home in the universe.
Source: www.wired.com