VIPERS Home Page

The unprecedented view of the large-scale distribution of galaxies between 5 and 8 billion years ago, unveiled by the new ~55,000 redshifts of the VIPERS PDR-1 catalogue. The survey targets galaxies with a magnitude i(AB)<22.5 over two areas of ~16 and 8 square degree of sky, within the two CFHTLS Wide W1 and W4 fields. The extensive coverage and high sampling density of the survey deliver a stunning picture of the cosmic web at an epoch when the Universe was about half its current age. The long side of the "cones" extends from z=0.45 to z=0.95, spanning 4.6 billion light years in co-moving length.

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VIPERS FACTS

The "VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey" (VIPERS) is an ongoing ESO Large Program to map in detail the spatial distribution of normal galaxies over an unprecedented volume of the z~1 Universe. VIPERS is using VIMOS at the VLT to measure 100,000 redshifts for galaxies with red magnitude I(AB) brighter than 22.5 over an area of 24 square degrees. At this redshift, VIPERS fills a unique niche in galaxy surveys, optimizing the combination of 5-band accurate photometry from the CFHTLS with the multiplexing capability of VIMOS. A robust color-color pre-selection allows the survey to focus its measurements on the 0.5 < z < 1.2 redshift range, yielding an optimal combination of large volume (5 x 10⁷ h^-3 Mpc³) and high effective spectroscopic sampling (> 40%). With these figures, the VIPERS data set represents the z~1 equivalent of state-of-the-art "local" (z<0.2) surveys.

VIPERS scientific investigations focus on measurements of large-scale structure and cosmological parameters at an epoch when the Universe was about half its current age. At the same time, the survey can explore the ensemble properties of luminous galaxies, groups and clusters with unprecedented statistical accuracy at these redshifts.

Learn more about the project (semi-technical)


	12 March 2013: VIPERS releases its first science results based on 55,000 new galaxy redshifts Go to Press Information Page --> Go to Press Information Page The unprecedented view of the large-scale distribution of galaxies between 5 and 8 billion years ago, unveiled by the new ~55,000 redshifts of the VIPERS PDR-1 catalogue. The survey targets galaxies with a magnitude i(AB)<22.5 over two areas of ~16 and 8 square degree of sky, within the two CFHTLS Wide W1 and W4 fields. The extensive coverage and high sampling density of the survey deliver a stunning picture of the cosmic web at an epoch when the Universe was about half its current age. The long side of the "cones" extends from z=0.45 to z=0.95, spanning 4.6 billion light years in co-moving length. Download the VIPERS movie VIPERS FACTS The "VIMOS Public Extragalactic Redshift Survey" (VIPERS) is an ongoing ESO Large Program to map in detail the spatial distribution of normal galaxies over an unprecedented volume of the z~1 Universe. VIPERS is using VIMOS at the VLT to measure 100,000 redshifts for galaxies with red magnitude I(AB) brighter than 22.5 over an area of 24 square degrees. At this redshift, VIPERS fills a unique niche in galaxy surveys, optimizing the combination of 5-band accurate photometry from the CFHTLS with the multiplexing capability of VIMOS. A robust color-color pre-selection allows the survey to focus its measurements on the 0.5 < z < 1.2 redshift range, yielding an optimal combination of large volume (5 x 10⁷ h^-3 Mpc³) and high effective spectroscopic sampling (> 40%). With these figures, the VIPERS data set represents the z~1 equivalent of state-of-the-art "local" (z<0.2) surveys. VIPERS scientific investigations focus on measurements of large-scale structure and cosmological parameters at an epoch when the Universe was about half its current age. At the same time, the survey can explore the ensemble properties of luminous galaxies, groups and clusters with unprecedented statistical accuracy at these redshifts. Learn more about the project (semi-technical)