Leave a Comment Dr. Margaret Geller at Smithsonian has released a new redshift survey of a rich galaxy cluster, the first substantial spectroscopic survey of this cornerstone of extragalactic research. Read more.
The survey, done with the MMT and the Hectospec instrument, identifies 275 cluster member galaxies of Abell 383 and enables dynamical analyses not possible previously. From these observations, Dr. Geller and her collaborators were able to derive the true mass and size of the cluster, values that are foundations for testing models of structure formation in the universe. In addition, the techniques championed by the authors allow highly efficient use of telescope time by utilizing conditions that are suboptimal, such as nights that have a bright moon or thin clouds. You can read the paper in its entirety here.
