The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument: First Light and Beyond

Andrew Cooper^1,2*

¹Institute of Astronomy, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
²Department of Physics, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

* Presenter:Andrew Cooper, email:apcooper@gapp.nthu.edu.tw

I will give an overview of the design and science goals of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), a revolutionary new 5000-fiber spectrograph recently installed on the Mayall 4m telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. DESI is the first of an exciting new generation of 'survey-class' large-aperture spectrographs. These instruments will transform optical astronomy in the next decade, single-handedly increasing samples of star and galaxy spectra by more than an order of magnitude. DESI's first five-year survey program will probe the large-scale structure of the Universe and constrain the nature of the mysterious Dark Energy by obtaining approximately 35 million high-precision galaxy redshifts. Simultaneously, with a survey of 10 million faint stars, we will attempt to discover ancient dynamical and chemical signatures of galactic collisions in the primordial history of the Milky Way. DESI began commissioning observations in November 2019 and will start full-time operation in mid-2020. The DESI collaboration has participation from nearly 500 researchers at 75 institutions. In this talk, on behalf of the DESI Collaboration, I will showcase some early observations and preview the exciting opportunities DESI will open up for astronomers in the years ahead.

Keywords: Galactic Astrophysics, Galaxy Structure, Galactic Archaeology, Multi-Object Spectroscopy, Cosmological Redshift Surveys