The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX): Description and Early Pilot Survey Results
G. J. Hill (1), K. Gebhardt (1), E. Komatsu (1), N. Drory (2), P. J., MacQueen (1), J. Adams (1), G. A. Blanc (1), R. Koehler (2), M. Rafal (1), M., M. Roth (3), A. Kelz (3), C. Gronwall (4), R. Ciardullo (4), and D. P.

TL;DR
HETDEX aims to map the universe at high redshift using a new wide-field spectrograph array to detect emission-line galaxies, measure dark energy, and improve cosmological constraints.
Contribution
This paper introduces the HETDEX survey and VIRUS instrument, and presents early pilot survey results for LAE galaxy properties.
Findings
Detection of 0.8 million LAE galaxies at 1.9<z<3.5
First measurements of LAE properties from pilot survey
Initial data supporting HETDEX's dark energy measurements
Abstract
The Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX) will outfit the 10 m HET with a new wide field and an array of 150 integral-field spectrographs to survey a 420 sq. deg. area in the north Galactic cap. Each fiber-coupled unit spectrograph will cover 350-550 nm, simultaneously. This instrument, called VIRUS, will produce ~34,000 spectra per exposure, and will open up the emission-line universe to large surveys for the first time. The survey will detect 0.8 million Lyman-alpha emitting (LAE) galaxies with 1.9<z<3.5 and more than a million [OII] emitting galaxies with z<0.5. The 3-D map of LAE galaxies in 9 cubic Gpc volume will be used to measure the expansion history at this early epoch using baryonic acoustic oscillations and the shape of the power spectrum. The aim of HETDEX is to provide a direct detection of dark energy at z~3. The measurement will constrain the evolution…
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Taxonomy
TopicsAstronomy and Astrophysical Research · Superconducting and THz Device Technology · Radio Astronomy Observations and Technology
