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| BOSS (SDSS) | |
|---|---|
| Name | BOSS (SDSS) |
| Organization | Sloan Digital Sky Survey |
| Country | United States |
| Type | Spectroscopic survey |
| Wavelength | Optical |
| Operational | 2009–2014 |
| Telescope | Sloan Foundation Telescope |
BOSS (SDSS) is the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, a major program of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey that mapped large-scale structure using spectroscopic observations. It aimed to measure baryon acoustic oscillations and redshift-space distortions across cosmic time by targeting galaxies and quasars with the Sloan Foundation Telescope and multi-fiber spectrographs. The survey combined techniques from observational astronomy and cosmology used in programs like 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey, WiggleZ, and DEEP2 to constrain models such as ΛCDM and probes like dark energy and neutrino mass.
BOSS was conducted as part of SDSS-III and operated between 2009 and 2014 under collaboration among institutions including Princeton University, University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Washington, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. It built on predecessors like SDSS-I and SDSS-II and paralleled contemporaneous projects such as Pan-STARRS, DES, and CFHT Legacy Survey. The survey produced redshifts that linked to analyses by teams associated with Planck Collaboration, WMAP, and the Hubble Space Telescope community, informing parameter estimation used in studies by authors such as Eisenstein, Dawson, and Percival.
BOSS targeted measurements to detect the baryon acoustic oscillation feature in the galaxy correlation function and to use it as a standard ruler to trace the expansion history relevant to dark energy. It aimed to measure the angular diameter distance and Hubble parameter at redshifts overlapping with studies from Supernova Legacy Survey, SNLS, and SCP (Supernova Cosmology Project). Additional goals included measuring growth of structure through redshift-space distortions to test gravity theories like General Relativity versus alternatives considered by researchers in Modified Newtonian Dynamics and explorations tied to inflationary cosmology constraints from Planck Collaboration and WMAP.
BOSS used upgraded double-armed spectroscopy based on the SDSS spectrograph design installed on the Sloan Foundation Telescope at Apache Point Observatory. Instrument upgrades included new fiber optics, higher-efficiency detectors influenced by developments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory, and plate-drilling and fiber-positioning systems coordinated with teams at Carnegie Mellon University and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. Survey tiling and targeting strategies were informed by imaging from SDSS imaging camera and cross-matched catalogs from Two Micron All Sky Survey and Galaxy Evolution Explorer.
Targets included luminous galaxies and high-redshift quasars selected using photometry and color cuts derived from SDSS photometric system, with selection algorithms developed by collaborators at Princeton University, Yale University, and University of Arizona. The galaxy sample emphasized massive luminous red galaxies similar to those in LRG surveys and complemented by emission-line galaxy selections akin to DEEP2 approaches. Quasar targeting prioritized Lyα forest sightlines for absorption studies comparable to work by groups at Institute for Advanced Study and Carnegie Observatories. Observations used plate-mounting schedules coordinated with teams at Apache Point Observatory and reduction pipelines adapted from earlier SDSS software.
BOSS data were processed through pipelines developed within the SDSS-III collaboration, producing calibrated spectra, redshift catalogs, and value-added products integrated into public data releases such as SDSS Data Release 9 through Data Release 12. The processing incorporated algorithms for sky subtraction and flux calibration used by groups at Johns Hopkins University and University of Chicago, and produced catalogs cross-referenced with surveys like 2MASS, GALEX, and FIRST. Data releases were used by analysis teams in projects connected to Planck Collaboration cosmological parameter inference and to prepare joint likelihoods with results from BICEP2 and ACT.
BOSS produced precise measurements of BAO at redshifts z≈0.3–0.7 from the galaxy sample and at z≈2.3 using the Lyα forest in quasar spectra, delivering distance constraints cited alongside results from Planck Collaboration and WMAP to tighten ΛCDM parameter space. Key publications by groups led by Eisenstein, Dawson, Ross, and Anderson reported percent-level measurements of the distance scale, constraints on the equation-of-state parameter w, and limits on the sum of neutrino masses complementing analyses by Particle Data Group and KATRIN. BOSS also advanced measurements of redshift-space distortions used to test gravity models explored by Silk, Peebles, and Zaldarriaga.
BOSS set a benchmark for spectroscopic cosmology that influenced successor programs such as eBOSS, DESI, and planning for Euclid and WFIRST missions. Its datasets underpin hundreds of studies across institutions like Harvard University, MIT, Caltech, and Max Planck Society, and informed forecasts for future constraints on dark energy and neutrino mass hierarchy used by committees within National Science Foundation and advisory panels for European Space Agency. The survey's hardware, software, and organizational models continue to shape large collaborations in observational cosmology exemplified by projects at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.