DESI Completes 5-Year Survey, Extending 3D Map of the Nearby Universe
Updated
Updated · airandspace.si.edu · Jun 30
DESI Completes 5-Year Survey, Extending 3D Map of the Nearby Universe
3 articles · Updated · airandspace.si.edu · Jun 30
Summary
April 2026 marked the end of DESI’s originally planned five-year survey, a project launched in 2021 to build a 3D map of the nearby universe.
At Kitt Peak in Arizona, the instrument uses the Mayall 4-meter telescope to measure galaxy motions, letting researchers calculate distances and trace large-scale cosmic structure.
Those galaxy patterns help astronomers probe dark matter, dark energy and gravity, while showing how the universe’s web-like structure formed and evolved over time.
DESI’s milestone builds on decades of mapping work—from early galaxy catalogs to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey—and the broader effort to chart the universe is continuing beyond the initial plan.