2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey

2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey
Willem Schaap · CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Name	2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey
Organization	Anglo-Australian Observatory
Location	Siding Spring Observatory
Telescope	Anglo-Australian Telescope
Instruments	Two-degree Field (2dF) instrument
Start date	1997
End date	2002
Objects	~250000 galaxies

Contents

2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey was a major observational program conducted with the Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory using the Two-degree Field (2dF) instrument to measure redshifts for roughly 250,000 galaxies between 1997 and 2002. It provided large-scale maps of the distribution of galaxies across cosmological volumes that informed studies in cosmology, large-scale structure, dark matter, dark energy, and galaxy formation and evolution. Key institutional partners included the Anglo-Australian Observatory, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Durham, and the Australian National University.

Overview

The survey targeted galaxies selected from the APM galaxy catalogue derived from the UK Schmidt Telescope photographic plates, obtaining spectra with the Two-degree Field (2dF) instrument mounted on the Anglo-Australian Telescope. It produced a redshift catalogue that complemented contemporaneous efforts such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and earlier surveys like the CfA Redshift Survey and the Las Campanas Redshift Survey. The team included scientists associated with institutions such as the University of Oxford, the Max Planck Society, the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh, and the Carnegie Institution for Science. Major outcomes influenced analyses by groups at the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, the European Southern Observatory, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

The design used the multi-fibre Two-degree Field (2dF) instrument to position up to 400 fibres across a two-degree field of view on the focal plane of the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Target selection relied on imaging from the UK Schmidt Telescope and reductions by the APM at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh. The fibre positioner and spectrographs were developed with collaboration between engineers from the Anglo-Australian Observatory and groups at the University of Durham and the University of Oxford. Calibration strategies referenced spectral standards from the Hubble Space Telescope archive and wavelength calibration lamps similar to those used at the European Southern Observatory.

Observations were scheduled from Siding Spring Observatory with data acquisition coordinated alongside other programs at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Raw spectra were reduced using pipelines developed by teams at the Anglo-Australian Observatory, the University of Edinburgh, and the Australian National University, producing redshift measurements validated by cross-correlation methods pioneered by researchers at the University of Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley. Quality control involved comparisons with redshifts from the 2MASS Redshift Survey, the CfA Redshift Survey, and early data releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Catalog compilation and distribution engaged data centers such as the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database.

The 2dF survey produced precise measurements of the galaxy power spectrum and yielded one of the first robust detections of the imprint of baryon acoustic oscillations when combined with other datasets; these results informed parameter constraints used in analyses by the Planck team and studies at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics. The survey constrained the matter density parameter Ω_m and the bias between galaxies and dark matter halos, influencing theoretical work from groups at the Institute for Advanced Study, the California Institute of Technology, and the Princeton University cosmology groups. Results on redshift-space distortions tested models developed at the University of Chicago and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics. Galaxy population studies using the 2dF yielded luminosity functions compared to measurements from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, and informed models from the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy and the Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge on star formation histories, active galactic nuclei demographics, and environmental effects on morphology.

The 2dF dataset served as a benchmark for subsequent redshift surveys, influencing the design and science goals of projects such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the WiggleZ Dark Energy Survey, the 6dF Galaxy Survey, and the Dark Energy Survey. Its catalogue and analysis pipelines were used by researchers at institutions including the University of Toronto, the University of Melbourne, the University of St Andrews, and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics. The survey fostered collaborations among observational facilities like the Anglo-Australian Observatory, theoretical groups at the Institute for Astronomy, Cambridge, and international data centers including the Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg and the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database, leaving a lasting impact on precision cosmology, galaxy evolution studies, and the development of multi-fibre spectroscopy techniques.

Category:Redshift surveys Category:Anglo-Australian Telescope Category:Observational cosmology