13.4 Billion Years After the Big Bang (IMAGE)

University of Chicago

13.4 Billion Years After the Big Bang

Caption

This image from a supercomputer simulation of the evolution of the universe shows a cubic volume of outer space measuring approximately 280 million light years across. At this stage, the universe is 13.4 billion years old (the present). The bright dots correspond with high concentrations of dark matter, which are associated with sites of galaxy formation. The simulation shows how dark matter, an invisible material of unknown composition, herded luminous matter in the universe from its initial smooth state into the cosmic web of galaxies and galaxy clusters that populate the universe. The University of Chicago's Andrey Kravtsov, Charlie Conroy and Risa Weschlser will describe these findings in a paper published in the June 20 issue of the Astrophysical Journal.

Credit

Image courtesy of Andrey Kravtsov

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