Visualization of multivariate dark matter halos in cosmology simulations

Abstract

In this poster, we present a new approach to visualize multivariate dark matter halos representing the spheroid part of galaxies, the disk part of galaxies, black holes and the halo itself. The data being visualized here is an end result of tracking the evolution of cosmic structures called dark matter halos in cosmological simulation and evaluating the formation and evolution of galaxies within. Cosmologists have traditionally visualized individual galaxies in the form of two dimensional density maps, graphs and parallel coordinates. We introduce a new way of mapping multiple parameters of dark matter halos to a halo-icon. This allows the scientist to view all of the parameters associated with the dark matter halos in one visualization.