Scientists release largest-ever 2D map of the universe

The DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team has released the largest 2D color map of the universe ever assembled — a 5.6-trillion-pixel mosaic cataloguing nearly 4 billion celestial objects. Released on August 10 by the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the map is publicly accessible and viewable through the Legacy Survey Sky Viewer.newscenter.lbl+1

13 Years, 263,000 Exposures

The map was built by combining 263,407 telescope exposures collected over 2,285 nights across three ground-based surveys: the Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey at NSF Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the Mayall z-band Legacy Survey at NSF Kitt Peak National Observatory, and the Beijing-Arizona Sky Survey at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory. Additional data came from NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer satellite mission.einpresswire+1

Covering roughly 75% of the sky in visible and near-infrared light, the map provides a deep view of the extragalactic universe unobstructed by Milky Way dust and stars. More than 160 scientists contributed to data collection, with a team of 20 producing the final dataset. Processing the images required about eight weeks on the Perlmutter supercomputer at Berkeley Lab's National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center.newscenter.lbl

"It's part of the fabric of astronomy research now," said David Schlegel, co-lead of the Legacy Surveys and scientist at Berkeley Lab. "When you're working with astronomical objects today, you often start by pulling up the Legacy Imaging Viewer to see what you're looking at."theprint+1

Foundation for Dark Energy Research

The map was originally created to support the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), which completed its five-year survey in April 2026 ahead of schedule, observing more than 47 million galaxies and quasars — far exceeding its target of 34 million. DESI's early results have shown hints that dark energy's influence may be weakening over time, a finding that could reshape understanding of the universe's fate.cmu+3

The new map has guided DESI target selection since June 2026 and will support the telescope's continued operations through 2028. It will also serve as a reference for next-generation observatories, including the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory and NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.newscenter.lbl

Open to All

Astronomers and citizen scientists can explore the map to search for gravitational lenses, observe supernovae, and investigate dark matter. To date, more than 1,800 science papers have referenced Legacy Surveys data.theprint+1

"The skies belong to everyone, and this survey gives everyone the chance to explore the sky and marvel at its wonders," said Arjun Dey, co-lead of the Legacy Surveys and astronomer at NSF NOIRLab.newscenter.lbl