TheCOSMOS field, or theCosmic Evolution Survey Deep Field, is astitched photograph of deep space, which was photographed with theHubble Space Telescope'sAdvanced Camera for Surveys in segments from 2003 to 2005, and was supported by several other ground-based and space-based telescopes.[1] It was the capstone of theCOSMOS project, which aimed to observe and study howgalaxies are affected bycelestial environments.
The project and COSMOS field was a study of the way in which galaxies are influenced byphysical properties and theenvironment that surrounds them. The COSMOS field was chosen to be the focal point of research due to its abundance of galaxies and other celestial bodies, and its scarcity of gas. The research from the project has been used to identify deep-space galaxies and theirastrophysics.[2]
The Cosmic Evolution Survey (COSMOS)[3][4] was a wide fieldobservational astronomy project. It was aimed at observing the correlation betweengalaxies,star formations,active galactic nuclei anddark matter[5] and how they evolve, with large-scale structures of the universe. The survey included imaging in multiple wavelengths andspectroscopic analysis fromX-rays toradio waves, in a region of two square degrees in theConstellation Sextans.[6]
COSMOS, when it was proposed in 2003 as an exploratory survey to be carried out with the Advanced Camera for Surveys of the Hubble, was the largest HST project ever approved. Combined with the fact that the area of sky proposed as a survey had never been the subject of observations,[7] the project has stimulated the main world astronomical structures to explore the sky in this direction, thus resulting in one of the most substantial, deepest and most uniform data sets in the entireelectromagnetic spectrum.[8]
Over two million galaxies have been identified in the COSMOS field.[9]NASA and theESO studied the COSMOS region, the region in which the mosaic was taken, and further research is ongoing. The mosaic itself covers a 2 square degreeequatorial field. The age of the galaxies differ, spanning 75% of the age of theobservable universe.[10] HubbleSite states that "the COSMOS field is Hubble's largest contiguous survey of the universe, that covers two square degrees of sky. By comparison, the Earth'sMoon is one-half degree across. The field is being imaged by most major space-based andground-based telescopes". To compare, the well-knownHubble Ultra-Deep Field is the farthest visible view into the universe."[9] The COSMOS field is the largest-ever contiguous survey of the Universe taken by the Hubble, and was the largest Hubble project ever approved before theCANDELS project[11] was carried out from 2010 to 2013.[12]
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