Data Release 20

DR20 is the second data release for the fifth phase of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-V). Its content is described in detail on the DR20 data release paper.

What’s New in DR20
Data Access
Scope

DR20 includes the following:

  • The very first set of spectra and data products from the optical BOSS spectrograph at Las Campanas Observatory, delivering both stars for Milky Way Mapper (MWM) and quasars and galaxies for Black Hole Mapper (BHM)
    • This includes a huge set of data for the SPIDERS programme in BHM, providing optical spectroscopy for X-ray detected sources in eROSITA. Catalogs from the eROSITA team are available in their DR2 (release date: 31 July 2026)
  • More spectra and data products from the optical BOSS spectrograph at Apache Point Observatory for both MWM and BHM, supplementing the data already released in DR19
  • More tiles from Local Volume Mapper, showcasing both Galactic and Extra-Galactic targets
  • Targeting catalogs prepared for the BHM and MWM science programs, as well as for the open fiber programs
  • Several Value Added Catalogs (VACs), prepared by the BHM and MWM science teams
  • Brand-new user interface LVMvis, to interact with the LVM spectra and preview the RGB HiPS maps of optical nebular emission-line maps observed by LVM
  • An update to our already existing user interface, Zora and Valis, to interact with all SDSS-V BHM and MWM spectra and data products, in a web browser or API
  • Several Python Notebooks tutorials that also run in SciServer Compute, to showcase what you can do with SDSS data products

Access to the DR20 data products is described on this page, while the Black Hole Mapper, Milky Way Mapper, and Local Volume Mapper data pages offer more detailed descriptions of the data products, as well as caveats.

No New APOGEE spectra or analysis in DR20

In DR20, there are no new APOGEE spectra and no new analysis of previous APOGEE spectra. We have copied the DR19 data into the DR20 files to consolidate all the most recent public data in one place. In DR21, we anticipate releasing APOGEE data, including the first SDSS-V APOGEE spectra from Las Campanas Observatory as well as the results from updated analysis pipelines. 

Previous SDSS Data Releases

For previous SDSS-I-IV data releases, please visit the the following pages. These pages contains descriptions, data access information, tutorials and caveats for the following completed SDSS surveys:

Some of these data sets are now also available in the SDSS Legacy Archive at MAST, hosted by the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute.

And if you are interested in reading more about how SDSS data releases are produced, a short overview is given in this conference proceeding.

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