franco_vazza, to random
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social avatar

As for every astronomer next to a pool, it is impossible for me not to notice the similarity between the light patterns that refraction creates on the bottom of the pool, and the image of the cosmic web produced by cosmological simulations.

The similarity is not by chance, but there are deep connections between the two!

Let’s have a quick look at this


franco_vazza,
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social avatar

First, this is how the cosmic web is predicted to be shaped, by all cosmological simulations (regardless of details on physics and numerics): a complex and multi-scale network of filaments, clustering in knots and separated by voids.

This is movie showing the evolution of the cosmic web of gas density, for a tiny slice crossing a random plane of my simulation.

video/mp4

franco_vazza,
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social avatar

There is fantastic rendering of this effect with computer graphics, by Johan Hidding, that you can see via youtube, here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fjk8X1KuyE

which very well shows how time and the vertical direction in the pool example are the direction along with the linear "mapping"of the initial conditions take place.

franco_vazza, to random
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social avatar

Astronomers have a relatively easier path for discovering things than other scientists:
the Universe is BIG and it shines in many different wavelengths, so any time there is a more powerful telescope, or a new region of the EM spectrum to explore, it’s a good chance to discover new objects and give new nicknames.

A new #AstroPhysicsFactlet dedicated to the nicknames that extragalactic astrophysicists gave to interesting clusters of galaxies they discovered

#astrodon
#astronomy

franco_vazza,
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social avatar
  1. the Pandora’s cluster : Abell 2744
    https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abell_2744
    it is a shrine of treasures for the study of clusters of galaxies, from gravitational lensing, to the study of material accreting to it via X-ray visibile filaments, to a multitude of radio diffuse emissions.
    https://www.nature.com/articles/nature16058

image/png

franco_vazza,
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social avatar
  1. the Laniakea Supercluster: a supercondensation of galaxies in the local Universe, containing a about 1e17 solar masses (!) in total, and stretching for the impressive length of 160Mpc from side to side
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laniakea_Supercluster
    Luckily you have one of the discoverers active on this platform: @pomarede

image/png

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