Jump To Date
View By Semester
View By Series
Add An Event


Center for Astrophysics Research and Technologies Seminar Series Information

 

Events Calendar

Mapping the Cosmos with DESI: Targeting and First Spectra

Friday April 10, 2020
3:30 pm


 Presenter:  Adam Myers, Associate Professor, University of Wyoming
 Series:  Physics and Astronomy Colloquium
 Abstract:  The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) is a fiber-fed robotic multi-object spectrograph on the Mayall 4-meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. DESI can obtain spectra of ~5000 objects over a ~3 degree field in a single exposure, which will enable a five-year spectroscopic survey of over a third of the sky. DESI dark- and gray-time observations will obtain redshifts for ~30 million galaxies and quasars, allowing new constraints on the expansion history of the Universe over a large dynamic range of cosmic time. During bright-time, DESI will observe an additional ~20M nearby galaxies and stars. The main DESI survey is about to commence, and I will outline the properties of the galaxies, quasars and stars that DESI will target, and display some of the first science spectra from DESI's Survey Validation phase. I will also discuss the results expected from DESI, with a focus on how the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) method can be used to constrain the evolution of the distance-redshift relation.
 Host:  Darcy Barron
 Location:  TBD

Disability Notice If you need an auxiliary aid or service to attend any Department of Physics and Astronomy event, please contact the department (phone: 505 277-2616; email: physics@unm.edu) as far in advance as possible to ensure you are accommodated.