Fast Breaking Comment by Dr Matthew Colless

Dr Matthew Colless answers a few questions about this month's fast breaking paper in field of Space Science.

From •>>October 2002

Field: Space Science
Article Title: "The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: spectra and redshifts"
Authors: Colless, M;Dalton, G;Maddox, S;Sutherland, W;Norberg, P;Cole, S;Bland-Hawthorn, J;Bridges, T;Cannon, R;Collins, C;Couch, W;Cross, N;Deeley, K;De Propris, R;Driver, SP;Efstathiou, G;Ellis, RS;Frenk, CS;Glazebrook, K;Jackson, C;Lahav, O;Lewis, I;Lumsden, S;Madgwick, D;Peacock, JA;Peterson, BA;Price, I;Seaborne, M;Taylor, K
Journal: MON NOTIC ROY ASTRON SOC
Volume: 328
Page: 1039-1063
Year: DEC 21 2001
* Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Astron & Astrophys, Weston, ACT 2611, Australia.
* Australian Natl Univ, Res Sch Astron & Astrophys, Weston, ACT 2611, Australia.
* Univ Oxford, Dept Phys, Oxford OX1 3RH, England.
* Univ Nottingham, Sch Phys & Astron, Nottingham NG7 2RD, England.
* Univ St Andrews, Sch Phys & Astron, St Andrews KY6 9SS, Fife, Scotland.
* Univ Durham, Dept Phys, Durham DH1 3LE, England.
* Anglo Australian Observ, Epping, NSW 2121, Australia.
* Liverpool John Moores Univ, Astrophys Res Inst, Birkenhead L14 1LD, Merseyside, England.
* Univ New S Wales, Dept Astrophys, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
* Univ Cambridge, Inst Astron, Cambridge CB3 0HA, England.
* CALTECH, Dept Astron, Pasadena, CA 91125 USA.
* Johns Hopkins Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Baltimore, MD 21218 USA.
* Univ Leeds, Dept Phys, Leeds LS2 9JT, W Yorkshire, England.
* Univ Edinburgh, Royal Observ, Inst Astron, Edinburgh EH9 3HJ, Midlothian, Scotland.


	January 1, 2005: This paper has also been named the Fast Moving Front in Space Science for January 2005.

Why do you think your paper is highly cited?

It reports a redshift survey of 221,000 galaxies which forms the basis for the largest three-dimensional map of the galaxy distribution in the local universe (see http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/2dFGRS). Analysis of the structures in this map has yielded precise measurements of fundamental cosmological parameters, such as the mass density of the universe. However the map also provides a vast amount of information on the galaxies themselves, and can be used either in conjunction with other astronomical surveys or as a basis for detailed follow-up studies. The paper is highly cited because of the broad utility of the dataset and the fundamental significance of the main results derived from it.

Does it describe a new discovery or new methodology that's useful to others?

This paper is a description of a major new dataset; companion papers report significant cosmological measurements obtained from this data (see http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/2dFGRS/Public/Publications).

Can you give us some background on this research?

The redshift survey has been carried out over the last five years at the Anglo-Australian Observatory (AAO) in Australia by a team of 30 Australian and British astronomers. The order-of-magnitude increase in the survey volume and the number of galaxies was made possible by the development at the AAO of a remarkable spectrograph capable of observing 400 galaxies simultaneously over an area of sky 16 times as large as the full moon.

Could you summarize the significance of your paper in layman's terms?

A map of the galaxy distribution over a statistically representative volume of the universe is important because it reflects the underlying mass distribution, and can be used to determine the total amount of matter in the universe. It can even be used to determine the relative amounts of different types of matter (cold dark matter, ordinary baryonic matter, and neutrinos). By comparing the distribution of matter in the universe today to the distribution at very early times, as revealed by the cosmic microwave background radiation, it is possible to determine the evolution of the geometry of the universe. This tells us the age of the universe, the rate at which it is expanding, and whether the universal expansion is decelerating or accelerating (due to dark matter dominating dark energy, or vice versa).

Dr Matthew Colless
Research School of Astronomy & Astrophysics
The Australian National University Cotter Rd,
Weston Creek, ACT 2611, Australia

ESI Special Topics, October 2002
Citing URL - http://www.esi-topics.com/fbp/comments/october-02-MatMalColl.html