The SDSS's 2.5-meter telescope at Apache Point Observatory

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and SDSS-II, the SDSS-III Collaboration will carry out a program of four surveys on three scientific themes:

• Dark energy and cosmological parameters
• The structure, dynamics, and chemical evolution of the Milky Way
• The architecture of planetary systems

Over the next six years (2008-2014), these four surveys will exploit the unique wide-field spectroscopic capability of the Apache Point Observatory's 2.5-meter telescope. The surveys are:

• BOSS will measure the cosmic distance scale via clustering in the large-scale galaxy distribution and the Lyman-α forest
• SEGUE-2 will map the structure, kinematics, and chemical evolution of the outer Milky Way disk and halo
• APOGEE will use high-resolution infrared spectroscopy to see through the dust to the inner Galaxy
• MARVELS will probe the population of giant planets via radial velocity monitoring of 11,000 stars

A thin slice through the SDSS map of large scale galaxy distribution, showing main sample galaxies (yellow, cyan, green) and luminous red galaxies (red).

SDSS-III will continue the SDSS tradition of public data releases, with the first release scheduled for 2010. The survey will also continue its commitment to making its data available and useful to students, amateur astronomers, and the public.

The SDSS-III Collaboration is forming now, and it is expected to include more than 20 institutions from around the globe. Inquiries from interested parties are welcome. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has conditionally approved a generous grant to initiate the project, and additional funds are being sought from federal agencies and the participating institutions.

For a detailed description of SDSS-III, see the Project Description, available as a PDF document.