Using extremely
faint light from galaxies 10.8-billion light years away, scientists have
created one of the most complete, three-dimensional maps of a slice of the
adolescent universe. The map shows a web of hydrogen gas that varies from low
to high density at a time when the universe was made of a fraction of the dark
matter we see today. The new study was done at the Max Planck Institute for
Astronomy in conjunction with researchers at Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley.
In addition to
providing a new map of part of the universe at a young age the work
demonstrates a novel technique for high-resolution universe maps. The new
technique, which uses distant galaxies to backlight hydrogen gas, might inform
future mapping projects, he says. One such project could be the proposed Dark
Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI). Managed by Berkeley Lab, DESI has the
goal of producing the most complete map of the universe yet.
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