Evolution of the Universe: Large-scale Structure and Galaxy Formation

Abstract

Visual excerpt from the PBS HDTV ''Runaway Universe'', courtesy WGBH-NOVA and Tom Lucas Productions.The Adaptive Mesh Refinement simulation grid automatically refines into subgrids to develop small-scale features, generating over half a terabyte of data. We see gravitation forming nested hierarchies which vary many orders of magnitude. Tiny fluctuations in the density of the early universe are amplified into a network of interconnected filaments. Condensing gas clouds give birth to new stars and merge into whirling galaxies which congregate, collide, and interact in a fiery cosmic dance. Copyright held by creator.