Astronomers Create the Universe’s Largest Map With 5.6 Trillion Pixels

An international team of scientists has presented the largest and most detailed map of the universe in human history. The immense project covers nearly 4 billion stars, galaxies and other celestial objects, with a total size of 5.6 trillion pixels. This was reported by Ixbt.com reports .

According to ixbt.com, this wide-ranging scientific project was carried out by the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team. Over thirteen years, specialists compiled more than 263,000 images captured by telescopes into a single system, creating this unique database.

New dimensions of the universe are emerging

The collected data covers visible and near-infrared wavelengths. This makes it possible to observe celestial objects in high resolution and detail. For the scientific community, such a large database is an important step toward deeper study of the mysteries of the universe.

These observations were initially created as a foundation for DESI, an instrument that studies the spectra of galaxies and quasars. Scientists determine the distance to objects based on the redshift of light and transform a flat sky image into a three-dimensional map of the universe.

Scientific significance and future research

The new map is not limited to the DESI project but will serve as a foundation for broad research. Earlier versions of the data had already contributed to more than 1,800 scientific studies and papers.

Astronomers can now use this vast dataset to search for rare cosmic objects, analyze galaxy evolution and train artificial intelligence systems. The use of such a database by artificial intelligence technologies is expected to pave the way for new discoveries in cosmology.

It is worth noting that the DESI project continues to expand its three-dimensional map of the universe. By April of this year, more than 47 million galaxies and quasars had been successfully added to the map במסגרת the project.