Astronomers have released the largest 2d map of the universe ever created, charting nearly 4 billion celestial objects across roughly three-quarters of the sky. Produced by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) Legacy Imaging Surveys team, the map contains 5.6 trillion pixels, combining more than 263,000 telescope exposures collected over 13 years across visible and near-infrared wavelengths.
The map forms the foundation for DESI’s broader effort to create a three-dimensional picture of the universe. Installed on the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona, DESI uses galaxy and quasar spectra to measure redshifts, allowing scientists to calculate cosmic distances and study how the universe has expanded over billions of years.
DESI began its main survey in 2021, with dark energy as its key research targets. By April 2026, it had mapped more than 47 million galaxies and quasars, producing the largest high-resolution 3D map of the universe to date.
The new dataset could help scientists study galaxy evolution, cosmic expansion and rare astronomical objects. It may also be used to train AI systems for analyzing data from next-generation observatories. Earlier versions of the Legacy Imaging dataset have already contributed to more than 1,800 scientific papers.
