Ia events in 2005 and a further 197 in 2006. In 2014 an even larger catalogue was released containing 10,258 variable and transient sources. Of these, 4,607 sources are either confirmed or likely supernovae, which makes this the largest set of supernovae so far compiled. SDSS III: 2008–2014 In mid-2008, SDSS-III was started. It comprised four separate surveys: APO Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) The APO Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) used high-resolution, high signal-to-noise infrared spectroscopy to penetrate the dust that obscures the inner Galaxy. APOGEE surveyed 100,000 red giant stars across the full range of the galactic bulge, bar, disk, and halo. It increased the number of stars observed at high spectroscopic resolution (R ≈ 20,000 at λ ≈ 1.6μm) and high signal-to-noise ratio () by more than a factor of 100. The high resolution spectra revealed the abundances of about 15 elements, giving information on the composition of the gas clouds the red giants formed from. APOGEE planned to collect data from 2011 to 2014, with the first data released as part of SDSS DR10 in late 2013. Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) The SDSS-III's Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) was designed to measure the expansion rate of the Universe. It mapped the spatial distribution of luminous red galaxies (LRGs) and quasars to determine their spatial distribution and detect the characteristic scale imprinted by baryon acoustic oscillations in the early universe. Sound waves that propagate in the early universe, like spreading ripples in a pond, imprint a characteristic scale on the positions of galaxies relative to each other. It was announced that BOSS had measured the scale of the universe to an accuracy of one percent, and was completed in Spring 2014. Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS) The Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS) monitored the radial velocities of 11,000 bright stars, with the precision and cadence needed to detect gas giant planets that have orbital periods ranging from several hours to two years. This ground-based Doppler survey used the SDSS telescope and new multi-object Doppler instruments to monitor radial velocities. The main goal of the project was to generate a large-scale, statistically well-defined sample of giant planets. It searched for gaseous planets having orbital periods ranging from hours to 2 years and masses between 0.5 and 10 times that of Jupiter. A total of 11,000 stars were analyzed with 25–35 observations per star