The Early Data Release of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument

TL;DR

The paper announces the public release of the initial data set from DESI's Survey Validation, including spectra and catalogs for hundreds of thousands of astronomical objects, enabling further cosmological research.

Contribution

This work provides the first major public data release from DESI's Survey Validation, including spectra, catalogs, and data products for diverse astronomical targets.

Findings

Spectral data for over 1.3 million objects released

High-quality spectra available for multiple galaxy and quasar samples

Data supports large-scale structure and cosmology studies

Abstract

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) completed its five-month Survey Validation in May 2021. Spectra of stellar and extragalactic targets from Survey Validation constitute the first major data sample from the DESI survey. This paper describes the public release of those spectra, the catalogs of derived properties, and the intermediate data products. In total, the public release includes good-quality spectral information from 466,447 objects targeted as part of the Milky Way Survey, 428,758 as part of the Bright Galaxy Survey, 227,318 as part of the Luminous Red Galaxy sample, 437,664 as part of the Emission Line Galaxy sample, and 76,079 as part of the Quasar sample. In addition, the release includes spectral information from 137,148 objects that expand the scope beyond the primary samples as part of a series of secondary programs. Here, we describe the spectral data, data quality, data products, Large-Scale Structure science catalogs, access to the data, and references that provide relevant background to using these spectra.