This is a clickable map - click on any fibre spectrum (near the centre of the image) to see a plot of the reduced spectrum.
These are the first 196 out of a total of 250,000 galaxy spectra planned for the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. This survey, to be completed over the next 3 years, aims to map the structure of the Universe out to distances of 600 Mpc - in size and breadth it will be ten times larger than any previous surveys.
This image is a 2 hour exposure obtained with the engineering grade CCD and on 2nd October, 1996. 200 optical fibres are positioned by a robot over a 2 degree field in the prime focal plane of the AAT and feed a customised spectrograph. The data has been pipelined reduced by automated data reduction software developed in-house at AAO. The 2dF system is still be commissioned, a second spectrograph enabling the full complement of 400 fibres will be installed in the next few months.