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    Cosmic web tagged posts

    Early Opaque Universe Linked to Galaxy Scarcity

    August 16, 2018, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    Computer simulation of a region of the universe wherein a low-density "void" (dark blue region at top center) is surrounded by denser structures containing numerous galaxies (orange/white). The research done by Becker and his team suggests that early in cosmic history, these void regions would have been the murkiest places in the universe even though they contained the least amount of dark matter and gas. Credit: TNG Collaboration.

    Computer simulation of a region of the universe wherein a low-density “void” (dark blue region at top center) is surrounded by denser structures containing numerous galaxies (orange/white). The research done by Becker and his team suggests that early in cosmic history, these void regions would have been the murkiest places in the universe even though they contained the least amount of dark matter and gas.
    Credit: TNG Collaboration.

    A team of astronomers led by George Becker at the University of California, Riverside, has made a surprising discovery: 12.5 billion years ago, the most opaque place in the universe contained relatively little matter. It has long been known that the universe is filled with a web-like network of dark matter and gas...

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    Cosmic Velocity Web: Motions of Thousands of Galaxies Mapped

    August 16, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    The cosmic velocity web is represented by surfaces of knots in red and surfaces of filaments in gray. The black lines with arrows illustrate local velocity flows within filaments and toward knots. The Laniakea Supercluster basin of attraction that includes our Milky Way galaxy is represented by a blue surface. The region being displayed extends across one billion light years. Credit: Daniel Pomarede, Yehuda Hoffman, R. Brent Tully and Helene Courtois. Credit: Daniel Pomarede, Yehuda Hoffman, R. Brent Tully, Helene Courtois

    The cosmic velocity web is represented by surfaces of knots in red and surfaces of filaments in gray. The black lines with arrows illustrate local velocity flows within filaments and toward knots. The Laniakea Supercluster basin of attraction that includes our Milky Way galaxy is represented by a blue surface. The region being displayed extends across one billion light years. Credit: Daniel Pomarede, Yehuda Hoffman, R. Brent Tully and Helene Courtois. Credit: Daniel Pomarede, Yehuda Hoffman, R. Brent Tully, Helene Courtois

    The cosmic web – the distribution of matter on the largest scales in the universe – has usually been defined through the distribution of galaxies. Now, a new study by a team of astronomers from France, Israel and Hawaii demonstrates a novel approach...

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    Flashes of Light on Dark Matter

    July 22, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    On the left side the cosmic web in the standard cold scenario, on the right side how it would look like in the Fuzzy Dark Matter model. The curved lines in both panels show how the absorption by the neutral hydrogen in the cosmic web behaves in the two models. The right curve does not agree with the data, while the left one does. Credit: Matteo Viel

    On the left side the cosmic web in the standard cold scenario, on the right side how it would look like in the Fuzzy Dark Matter model. The curved lines in both panels show how the absorption by the neutral hydrogen in the cosmic web behaves in the two models. The right curve does not agree with the data, while the left one does. Credit: Matteo Viel

     
    Using the light from very distant quasars to study the intergalactic space. A web that passes through infinite intergalactic spaces, a dense cosmic forest illuminated by very distant lights and a huge enigma to solve...
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    Intergalactic Gas and Ripples in the Cosmic Web

    April 28, 2017, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    This schematic representation illustrates the technique used to probe the small-scale structure of the cosmic web using light from a rare quasar pair. Credit: J. Onorbe / MPIA

    This schematic representation illustrates the technique used to probe the small-scale structure of the cosmic web using light from a rare quasar pair.
    Credit: J. Onorbe / MPIA

    A team of astronomers have made the first measurements of small-scale ripples in this primeval hydrogen gas using rare double quasars. Although the regions of cosmic web they studied lie nearly 11 billion light years away, they were able to measure variations in its structure on scales 100,000 times smaller, comparable to the size of a single galaxy.

    Intergalactic gas is so tenuous that it emits no light of its own. Instead astronomers study it indirectly by observing how it selectively absorbs the light coming from faraway sources known as quasars...

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