The most realistic picture yet of how galaxies formed and then evolved from the beginning of time has been revealed in a suite of new and unique audiovisual simulations. This data, published today in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, shows that the standard cosmological model can successfully explain the observed growth of galaxies, from the first billion years after the Big Bang to the present day, when key physics is included. Unlike earlier simulations, the COLIBRE 'virtual universes' model the cold gas and cosmic dust inside galaxies – the raw materials from which stars form and which strongly affect how galaxies look in telescopes. By including these previously missing ingredients and using far more computing power than ever before, the simulations successfully reproduce real galaxies, both in the present-day universe and in the early universe as seen by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

Aaron Rosengren, space systems faculty member, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California San Diego, comments on why Artemis II will be splashing down off San Diego.