SDSS-III Scientific Goals
 |
| The globular cluster M2, as seen by the SDSS telescope |
The original Sloan Digital Sky Survey and SDSS-II have a rich scientific legacy. Discoveries made
with SDSS data have included:
The SDSS has also made a commitment to make all its data available to the community and to the public through web interfaces in the Data Archive Server and the
Catalog Archive Server.
SDSS-III will build on the legacy of the SDSS and SDSS-II to generate high-quality scientific data and to make
important new discoveries. SDSS-III has been designed to maximize understanding of three scientific themes:
- Dark energy and cosmological parameters
- The structure, dynamics, and chemical evolution of the Milky Way
- The architecture of planetary systems
SDSS-III consists of four surveys to address these themes. 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
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.
For a detailed description of the SDSS-III's science program, see the
Project Description, available as a PDF document.
|
