Gemini Helps Map Larger than Expected Structure of Ancient Supercluster

November 10, 2019

In a recent collaborative study, Gemini Observatory and Subaru Telescope uncover the massive (and larger than expected) structure of a distant supercluster. Mapping the formation of these ancient superclusters is a critical step in understanding the dark matter and dark energy that shape these structures. Read an excerpt about this research from Subaru Telescopeʻs science highlight below. 

A team of astronomers used the Subaru Telescope and Gemini North telescope to reveal that a well-known distant supercluster is part of a larger structure at least twice as extended as what was already known. The galaxies associated with the supercluster are thought to have formed simultaneously over a vast area and then evolved to their observed states.

Using the Gemini Multi-Object Spectrograph (GMOS) Gemini North telescope and the Faint Object Camera and Spectrograph (FOCAS) on Subaru Telescope, the team has revealed that the supercluster CL1604, a distant supercluster located about 7.3 billion light-years away, is a large-scale 3-D structure extending over about 160 million light-years in the north-south direction. This is more than two times more extended than what was already known. Until now, we saw merely the “tip of the iceberg” of the supercluster. The wide-field capability of the Subaru Telescope enabled us to survey the whole of the supercluster and the Gemini North telescope played a critical role in confirming the structures. This is the outcome of the good synergy of the telescopes of the Maunakea observatories.

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