Astronomical survey

Alternatively, an astronomical survey may comprise a set of images, spectra, or other observations of objects that share a common type or feature.

In some cases, an astronomer interested in a particular object will find that survey images are sufficient to make new telescope time entirely unnecessary.

Surveys also help astronomers choose targets for closer study using larger, more powerful telescopes.

The wide scope of surveys makes them ideal for finding foreground objects that move, such as asteroids and comets.

Similarly, images of the same object taken by different surveys can be compared to detect transient astronomical events such as variable stars.

Composite image of the GOODS-South field, result of a deep survey using two of the four giant 8.2-metre telescopes composing ESO 's Very Large Telescope
Gamma-ray pulsars detected by the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope
Spectrum of types of observations of Solar System objects.
The positions in space of just some of the galaxies identified by the VIPERS survey (see Visible Multi Object Spectrograph ). [ 3 ]
Massive galaxies discovered in the early Universe of the UltraVISTA field. [ 10 ]