The first public release of DESI data is now available! Taken during DESI’s Survey Validation phase, the Early Data Release (EDR) includes spectra and redshifts for 1.2 million galaxies and quasars, as well as observations of nearly half a million stars in our own Milky Way galaxy.
The DESI Early Data Release by the numbers:
- Amount of data: 80 TB
- Exposures taken: 2,480
- Redshifts collected: 1.2 million extragalactic (galaxies and quasars)
- Objects in the Milky Way imaged: 496,000
- Quasars spotted: 90,000
- Time spent observing: 6 months
- Size compared to full DESI dataset: 2%
Part of DESI’s Survey Validation included the One-Percent Survey, visualized in the video below. Researchers took detailed images in 20 different directions on the sky, creating a 3D map of 700,000 objects and covering roughly 1% of the total volume DESI will study. With the instrument and survey plan successfully tested, the main DESI survey is now filling in the gaps between those observations.
Credit: David Kirkby/DESI collaboration