Astronomers have released the most detailed two-dimensional map of the universe ever produced -- a 5.6-trillion-pixel image 13 years in the making that spans nearly three-quarters of the sky.

The map, published by the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team, captures close to four billion celestial objects -- stars, galaxies, supernovae and more -- in both visible and near-infrared light.

That dual-wavelength approach cuts through the dust of the Milky Way, revealing cosmic structures that would otherwise be obscured, states The Independent.

The project is an international collaboration led by the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, drawing on data from more than 160 scientists across 263,407 sessions at two telescopes: the National Science Foundation's Mayall telescope in Arizona and the Blanco telescope in Chile.

Researchers say the map is expected to remain the most comprehensive 2D survey of the universe for years to come, serving both professional astronomers and citizen scientists.

Among its most significant uses is the study of dark matter and dark energy -- two of the deepest unsolved problems in modern physics.

Dark matter is the invisible substance thought to account for most of the mass in the universe; dark energy is the force believed to be driving its accelerating expansion.

The map will also serve as a reference base for new observatories and a training dataset for artificial intelligence tools built for future discoveries.

The release follows findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument on the Mayall telescope suggesting dark energy's influence may be weakening over time -- a prospect that unsettled some experts.

Research published in June by the Royal Astronomical Society, however, has pushed back on that interpretation.