The redshifts were measured using the AAOmega spectrograph, which can simultaneously analyse 392 galaxy spectra using optical fibres controlled by a robot positioner, providing a superior mapping speed.

Suitable targets were primarily selected by the orbiting GALEX satellite and to complete the survey required some 160 clear nights of telescope time.

The work was carried out by a core team of 14 Australia-based astronomers led by Chris Blake and including Sarah Brough, Warrick Couch, Karl Glazebrook, Greg Poole, Tamara Davis, Michael Drinkwater, Russell Jurek, Kevin Pimbblet, Matthew Colless, Rob Sharp, Scott Croom, Michael Pracy, David Woods, Barry Madore, Chris Martin and Ted Wyder.

The work was done in conjunction with collaborators in Toronto, Canada and at the California Institute of Technology and Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States.

The underlying purpose of the survey was to improve understanding of the phenomenon of "dark energy", proposed as the mechanism for the observed increasing rate of expansion of the universe, contradicting the traditional theories of gravitational attraction.