Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration

      SEGUE scan -- note the open (reddened) cluster.
Image credit: Robert Lupton and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Consortium

The Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration (SEGUE) is mining the stellar content of the Milky Way in order to create a detailed 3-dimensional map of the Galaxy. SEGUE will ultimately obtain spectra of 240,000 stars in the disk and spheroid, revealing the age, composition and phase space distribution of stars within the various Galactic components. These stellar excavations will provide essential clues for understanding the structure, formation and evolution of our Galaxy.

SEGUE is one of three major surveys that comprise the second phase (SDSS-II) of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), which is creating the largest three-dimensional map of the Universe. SDSS-II includes SEGUE; the Sloan Legacy Survey and the Sloan Supernova Survey.

For Astronomers who want to use SEGUE data, detailed information is available on the SEGUE data page.
Below are a few quick links to key items:

DR6 data release Examples of how to access and use the data base SEGUE Stellar Parameter Pipeline (SSPP) SSPP Table of Parameter Definitions Line Indices Caveats re Spectroscopic Data

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Funding for SEGUE (as part of SDSS-II) has been provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Participating Institutions, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Japanese Monbukagakusho, the Max Planck Society, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England.