Article

The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) has produced the largest, most accurate 3D map of Lyman alpha emissions in the early universe, dating from 9 to 11 billion years ago. Utilizing Line Intensity Mapping, the map reveals previously hidden fainter galaxies and gas associated with star formation.

The project, which has gathered over 600 million spectra, charts more than one million bright galaxies, but only 5% of the data is currently utilized. The team employed supercomputers to analyze half a petabyte of data, using known galaxy locations to infer positions of fainter objects. This foundational map could validate astrophysical simulations and guide future intensity-mapping efforts.