Site Visit: Cosmology and Dark Energy Research
Tucson, Arizona

February 27 to April 24, 2021

Project Statement

Astrophysicist Satya Gontcho A Gontcho and poet Amy Catanzano began Phase II of their danced-poem film that will explore the science and poetics of the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) experiment being conducted at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. DESI is measuring the effect of dark energy on the expansion of the universe by obtaining optical spectra for millions of galaxies, constructing the largest, most detailed 3D map of the universe to date.

The research conducted by Gontcho A Gontcho and Catanzano, adjusted to meet pandemic precautions, was supported by a W.C. Archie Endowed Fund for Faculty Excellence Award in Arts and Humanities and the English Department at Wake Forest University.