Zoomed-in image from the Dark Energy Camera of the barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365, in the Fornax cluster of galaxies.
A new telescope camera in Chile focused on mysterious dark energy has taken its first photos of extremely distant galaxies. Scientists think dark energy makes up 74 percent of the universe, yet they have very little idea what it is. It’s called “dark” energy because scientists don’t know what it is, but they know it’s there. For now, it is the name given to the force that's counteracting gravity, causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. Scientists believe the Big Bang accelerated the universe at the beginning and presume the universe would eventually slow down. But the universe is accelerating, and scientists don’t know why. They believe it’s because of dark energy. The first pictures from the 570-megapixel digital camera, which is the world’s largest, were taken of the southern sky on Sept. 12. The Dark Energy Camera was built at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Ill., and was installed on the Victor M. Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the southern branch of the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO). “The achievement of first light through the Dark Energy Camera begins a significant new era in our exploration of the Cosmic Frontier,” said James Siegrist, DOE associate director of science for high-energy physics, in a statement. “The results of this survey will bring us closer to understanding the mystery of dark energy and what it means for the universe.” Each photo by the camera can capture up to 100,000 galaxies as far away as 8 billion light-years. In December, after the camera is tested, it will begin the Dark Energy Survey, the largest galaxy survey ever undertaken, by mapping one-eighth of the sky. Researchers estimate the survey should spot 300 million galaxies, 100,000 galaxy clusters and 4,000 exploding stars, called supernovas. LA Times, CS Monitor, Batavia Republican. Source: Voice of Russia
