Researchers from a university in Southampton are amongst the first to use a powerful new telescope to reshape our view of the universe.

The four-metre Multi-Object Spectroscopic Telescope (4MOST), installed on the VISTA telescope at the European Southern Observatory's Paranal Observatory in Chile, has captured its "first light" -- the initial images of cosmic objects -- by splitting that light into 18,000 colour components for detailed analysis.

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth and the University of Southampton are among more than 700 scientists worldwide involved in the project, which is designed to reveal how stars, galaxies and black holes form and evolve across the universe.

Dr Chris Frohmaier, from the University of Portsmouth's Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, said: "4MOST will enable us to collect spectra for the largest explosions in the Universe at unprecedented volumes and scale.

"These explosions, known as supernovae, will allow us to measure vast distances across the cosmos and study the mysterious force known as Dark Energy that is causing the accelerating expansion of the Universe."

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Unlike most telescopes, which can collect spectral data from only one object at a time, 4MOST uses more than 2,400 hair-thin fibres, each with its own articulated arm.

This allows the telescope to observe and analyse the light from 2,400 stars or galaxies simultaneously.

The data gathered will help astronomers build a catalogue of temperatures, chemical compositions and velocities for tens of millions of objects across the southern sky.

Much of the scientific analysis is being carried out by the Time-Domain Extragalactic Survey (TiDES), a collaboration in which Portsmouth and Southampton are founding members.

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Dr Phil Wiseman from the University of Southampton said: "4MOST is poised to crack the universe's biggest secrets.

"We'll be getting the most precise measurement ever of dark energy, the mysterious force tearing the cosmos apart.

"Through our TiDES work, we're building the largest catalogue of supermassive blackhole masses and unlocking the secrets of the universe's rapid evolution."

The telescope is also expected to provide new insights into the formation of stars and planets, the structure and history of our own Milky Way, and the growth of galaxies and black holes across cosmic time.