Dark Energy Survey: Observing Shift at CTIO
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Portsmouth
Department Name: Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation
Abstract
The following is taken from the abstract of the attached observing proposal, which was granted 525 nights of observing time over 5 years on the instrument and telescope detailed within:
"The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011 was awarded for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe. The primary scientic objective of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is to address the question: why is the expansion of the Universe speeding up? Is cosmic acceleration due to dark energy or does it require a modication of General Relativity? If dark energy, is it the energy density of the vacuum (Einstein's cosmological constant) or something else? DES will address these questions by measuring the properties of dark energy with unprecedented precision, using four complementary techniques: galaxy clusters, large-scale galaxy clustering (including baryon acoustic oscillations), weak gravitational lensing, and type Ia supernovae. To achieve the requisite precision, we will conduct two optimally interleaved surveys over 525 nights: a wide-area grizY survey covering 5000 sq. deg. to 24th mag and a deeper time-domain griz survey with 5-day cadence covering 30 sq. deg. In response to an NOAO AO in 2003, the DES collaboration was formed and has built the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 570- megapixel, red-sensitive imager with 2.2 degree field of view, five uniform, high-throughput filters, a five-element optical corrector, and a hexapod system for active focus and alignment. We have constructed and will operate a data management system to process and serve DES survey data and a Community Pipeline for NOAO to process community data. The DES data products will provide a rich legacy for the astronomy community, and DECam will be an extraordinary asset as a facility instrument on the Blanco Telescope."
"The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2011 was awarded for the discovery of the accelerating expansion of the Universe. The primary scientic objective of the Dark Energy Survey (DES) is to address the question: why is the expansion of the Universe speeding up? Is cosmic acceleration due to dark energy or does it require a modication of General Relativity? If dark energy, is it the energy density of the vacuum (Einstein's cosmological constant) or something else? DES will address these questions by measuring the properties of dark energy with unprecedented precision, using four complementary techniques: galaxy clusters, large-scale galaxy clustering (including baryon acoustic oscillations), weak gravitational lensing, and type Ia supernovae. To achieve the requisite precision, we will conduct two optimally interleaved surveys over 525 nights: a wide-area grizY survey covering 5000 sq. deg. to 24th mag and a deeper time-domain griz survey with 5-day cadence covering 30 sq. deg. In response to an NOAO AO in 2003, the DES collaboration was formed and has built the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), a 570- megapixel, red-sensitive imager with 2.2 degree field of view, five uniform, high-throughput filters, a five-element optical corrector, and a hexapod system for active focus and alignment. We have constructed and will operate a data management system to process and serve DES survey data and a Community Pipeline for NOAO to process community data. The DES data products will provide a rich legacy for the astronomy community, and DECam will be an extraordinary asset as a facility instrument on the Blanco Telescope."
Publications
Kessler R
(2015)
THE DIFFERENCE IMAGING PIPELINE FOR THE TRANSIENT SEARCH IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY
in The Astronomical Journal
Bechtol K
(2015)
EIGHT NEW MILKY WAY COMPANIONS DISCOVERED IN FIRST-YEAR DARK ENERGY SURVEY DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gruen D
(2015)
Weak lensing by galaxy troughs in DES Science Verification data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goldstein D
(2015)
ERRATUM: "AUTOMATED TRANSIENT IDENTIFICATION IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY" (2015, AJ, 150, 82)
in The Astronomical Journal
Vikram V
(2015)
Wide-field lensing mass maps from Dark Energy Survey science verification data: Methodology and detailed analysis
in Physical Review D
Papadopoulos A
(2015)
DES13S2cmm: the first superluminous supernova from the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Kim A
(2015)
Distance probes of dark energy
in Astroparticle Physics
Chang C
(2015)
Wide-Field Lensing Mass Maps from Dark Energy Survey Science Verification Data.
in Physical review letters
Simon J
(2015)
STELLAR KINEMATICS AND METALLICITIES IN THE ULTRA-FAINT DWARF GALAXY RETICULUM II
in The Astrophysical Journal
Drlica-Wagner A
(2015)
SEARCH FOR GAMMA-RAY EMISSION FROM DES DWARF SPHEROIDAL GALAXY CANDIDATES WITH FERMI -LAT DATA
in The Astrophysical Journal
Crocce M
(2015)
Galaxy clustering, photometric redshifts and diagnosis of systematics in the DES Science Verification data
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Goldstein D
(2015)
AUTOMATED TRANSIENT IDENTIFICATION IN THE DARK ENERGY SURVEY
in The Astronomical Journal
Yuan F
(2015)
OzDES multifibre spectroscopy for the Dark Energy Survey: first-year operation and results
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Agnello A
(2015)
Discovery of two gravitationally lensed quasars in the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Saro A
(2015)
Constraints on the richness-mass relation and the optical-SZE positional offset distribution for SZE-selected clusters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Reed S
(2015)
DES J0454-4448: discovery of the first luminous z = 6 quasar from the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Luque E
(2018)
Deep SOAR follow-up photometry of two Milky Way outer-halo companions discovered with Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abolfathi B
(2018)
The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the Extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the Second Phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Gatti M
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: cross-correlation redshifts - methods and systematics characterization
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Collett TE
(2018)
A precise extragalactic test of General Relativity.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Smethurst R
(2018)
SDSS-IV MaNGA: the different quenching histories of fast and slow rotators
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Abbott T
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Cosmological constraints from galaxy clustering and weak lensing
in Physical Review D
Smith M
(2018)
Studying the Ultraviolet Spectrum of the First Spectroscopically Confirmed Supernova at Redshift Two
in The Astrophysical Journal
Drlica-Wagner A
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: The Photometric Data Set for Cosmology
in The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series
Penny S
(2018)
SDSS-IV MaNGA: evidence of the importance of AGN feedback in low-mass galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Prat J
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey year 1 results: Galaxy-galaxy lensing
in Physical Review D
Wethers C
(2018)
UV-luminous, star-forming hosts of z ~ 2 reddened quasars in the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Pursiainen M
(2018)
Rapidly evolving transients in the Dark Energy Survey
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Inserra C
(2018)
Euclid: Superluminous supernovae in the Deep Survey
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Troxel M
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: Cosmological constraints from cosmic shear
in Physical Review D
Chang C
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 results: curved-sky weak lensing mass map
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hoyle B
(2018)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: redshift distributions of the weak-lensing source galaxies
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Sako M
(2018)
The Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey-II Supernova Survey
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Shipp N
(2018)
Stellar Streams Discovered in the Dark Energy Survey
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bay Daya
(2020)
Improved Constraints on Sterile Neutrino Mixing from Disappearance Searches in the MINOS, MINOS+, Daya Bay, and Bugey-3 Experiments
in arXiv e-prints
DUNE Collaboration DUNE
(2020)
Prospects for Beyond the Standard Model Physics Searches at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment
in arXiv e-prints
DUNE Collaboration DUNE
(2020)
Neutrino interaction classification with a convolutional neural network in the DUNE far detector
in arXiv e-prints
Foreman W
(2020)
Calorimetry for low-energy electrons using charge and light in liquid argon
in Physical Review D
Abi B
(2020)
Volume I. Introduction to DUNE
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abi B
(2020)
Volume IV. The DUNE far detector single-phase technology
in Journal of Instrumentation
Abbott T
(2020)
Dark Energy Survey Year 1 Results: Cosmological constraints from cluster abundances and weak lensing
in Physical Review D
Acero M
(2020)
Measurement of neutrino-induced neutral-current coherent p 0 production in the NOvA near detector
in Physical Review D
Adamson P
(2020)
Improved Constraints on Sterile Neutrino Mixing from Disappearance Searches in the MINOS, MINOS+, Daya Bay, and Bugey-3 Experiments.
in Physical review letters
Lingard T
(2020)
Galaxy Zoo Builder: Four-component Photometric Decomposition of Spiral Galaxies Guided by Citizen Science
in The Astrophysical Journal
Collaboration N
(2020)
Search for Slow Magnetic Monopoles with the NOvA Detector on the Surface
in arXiv e-prints
Smith M
(2020)
First Cosmology Results using Supernovae Ia from the Dark Energy Survey: Survey Overview, Performance, and Supernova Spectroscopy
in The Astronomical Journal
Kruk S. J.
(2020)
VizieR Online Data Catalog: Offset discs and bars in SDSS galaxies (Kruk+, 2017)
in VizieR Online Data Catalog
Collaboration N
(2020)
Adjusting Neutrino Interaction Models and Evaluating Uncertainties using NOvA Near Detector Data
in arXiv e-prints
Stephenson LJ
(2020)
High-Rate, High-Fidelity Entanglement of Qubits Across an Elementary Quantum Network.
in Physical review letters
Jones S. B.
(2020)
Off-Axis Characterisation of the CERN T10 Beam for low Momentum Proton Measurements with a High Pressure Gas Time Projection Chamber
in arXiv e-prints
Description | The Dark Energy Survey is an on-going STFC project (ending in 2018). The data from this instrument will probe the nature of the dark universe and has already spawned neary 60 academic papers from the initial data (taken in 2013-14). This observing trip was part of that initial data run. |
Exploitation Route | The goal of the DES is dark energy and dark matter. This fundamental science fascinates the public and is part of our culture now. |
Sectors | Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
URL | http://www.darkenergysurvey.org |
Description | DES |
Organisation | Dark Energy Survey (DES) |
Country | Global |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Scientific leadership and guidance, preparation of scientific simulations and preparations, organisation of meetings and events |
Collaborator Contribution | Access to proprietary data and scientific collaboration |
Impact | Scientific publications (see publication list) |
Start Year | 2006 |
Description | Cosmology Masterclass |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Schools |
Results and Impact | Since 2012 the Cosmology Masterclass has engaged and inspired over 200 A level students with research at the ICG. The Cosmology Masterclass began as a collaboration with The Portsmouth Grammar School in 2010 and is now held annually on campus, with several additional 'mini-Masterclasses' each year at local colleges. - Feedback from the 2013 event was some of the best the University has received for an A level event. - Over the years 13 students have subsequently joined ICG for summer placements of which four cite their experiences at ICG as helping them to decide to pursue STEM subjects at university. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010,2012,2013,2014 |
Description | Stargazing Live 2015 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 450 members of the public attended the annual Stargazing Live at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard event organised by the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation with HMS Warrior and Action Stations. The majority of Co-Is participated in the event, talking to attendees about their research through stands and hands-on activities. The event was also attended by several local councillors. Many attendees reported that the event had inspired them to find out more about astronomy or attend more science-related events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | TV appearance - Horizon - Nichol |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Professor Bob Nichol featured in an episode of BBC Horizon: Dancing in the Dark - The End of Physics? The Horizon crew accompanied Professor Nichol to Chile and, in the documentary, he discusses the scope of cosmology, the observational evidence for the nature of dark matter, and the mystery of dark energy which is expected to occupy astrophysics for some time. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |