  The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is making a multi-colour, three
dimensional map of the nearby Universe. The survey is in two parts. The first
part is imaging one quarter of the sky in five colours from the near
ultraviolet to the near infrared. In this imaging survey we expect to detect
around 50 million galaxies to a magnitude limit g ~ 23. The second part of the
survey, taking place concurrently with the imaging, is obtaining spectra for up
to 1 million galaxies and 100,000 quasars. From these spectra we obtain
redshifts and hence distances, in order to map out the three-dimensional
distribution of galaxies and quasars in the Universe. These observations will
be used to constrain models of cosmology and of galaxy formation and evolution.
  This article describes the goals and methods used by the SDSS, the current
status of the survey, and highlights some exciting discoveries made from data
obtained in the first two years of survey operations.
