Projects: Experimental Astrophysics

Visit this project's website

The Experimental Astrophysics Group (EAG) consists of about 15 scientists conducting original research in observational astrophysics. EAG scientists study a wide variety of topics in astrophysics including galaxy clusters, cosmology, gravitational lensing, supernova, photometric redshifts, and the structure of our galaxy. The EAG has played a major role in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS I and SDSS II) which has been the most ambitious astronomical survey ever undertaken, imaging 8000 square degrees of the sky and obtaining spectra of 675,000 galaxies, 90,000 quasars, and 185,000 stars.

The group is also the leading the Dark Energy Survey (DES) which is an optical imaging survey that will cover 5000 square degrees of the southern sky. The survey is designed to probe the acceleration of the universe due to 'dark energy', using four cosmological probes: galaxy clusters, weak lensing shear tomography, supernova, and galaxy clustering. The EAG is building a new CCD camera (the Dark Energy Camera) for the Blanco 4-m telescope to undertake the survey, and EAG members are also planning for future DES science.