Both panels show projections in supergalactic coordinates, out to approximately 100 Megaparsec (Mpc). "Further, the simulation shows that our standard model of the universe, based on the idea that most of its mass is cold dark matter, can reproduce the most remarkable structures in the universe, including the spectacular structure of which the Milky Way is part."ĭistribution of the brightest galaxies in the local universe, observed in the 2MASS survey (left panel) and reproduced in the SIBELIUS simulation (right panel). "It is rare but not a complete anomaly: our simulation reveals the intimate details of the formation of galaxies such as the transformation of spirals into ellipticals through galaxy mergers. Research co-author Professor Carlos Frenk, Ogden Professor of Fundamental Physics, in the Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, said, "The distribution of galaxies in the Supergalactic Plane is indeed remarkable. The final simulation is remarkably consistent with observations of our universe through telescopes. While most cosmological simulations consider random patches of the universe, which cannot be directly compared to observations, SIBELIUS aims to precisely reproduce the observed structures, including the Supergalactic Plane. The research team used the SIBELIUS (simulations beyond the local universe) supercomputer simulation, which follows the evolution of the universe over 13.8 billion years from the early universe to the present day. The findings are published in the journal Nature Astronomy. This transforms spiral galaxies into elliptical galaxies-smooth galaxies with no apparent internal structure or spiral arms-and leads to the growth of supermassive black holes.īy contrast, away from the Plane, galaxies can evolve in relative isolation, which helps them preserve their spiral structure. In the dense galaxy clusters found on the Supergalactic Plane, galaxies experience frequent interactions and mergers with other galaxies. Now an international team of researchers, co-led by Durham University, UK, and the University of Helsinki, Finland, say different distributions of elliptical and disk galaxies arise naturally due to the contrasting environments found inside and outside the Plane. While the Plane is teeming with bright elliptical galaxies, bright disk galaxies with spiral arms are conspicuously scarce. The Supergalactic Plane is an enormous, flattened structure extending nearly a billion light years across in which our own Milky Way galaxy is embedded.
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