Astronomers create first realistic virtual universe

Astronomers have created the first realistic virtual simulation of the Universe, tracking 13 billion years of cosmic evolution. Until now, no single simulation was able to reproduce the Universe on both large and small scales simultaneously - Dr Mark Vogelsberger A newly-developed computer simulation has created the first realistic version of the Universe, enabling researchers to understand how galaxies, black holes and other cosmic phenomena evolved from early in the Universe's development up to the present day. The simulation, known as Illustris, follows the complex development of both normal and dark matter over 13 billion years, matching many of the features observed in the real Universe for the first time. Developed by an international team of researchers, Illustris tracks the development of the Universe from 12 million years after the Big Bang up to the present, and identified more than 41,000 galaxies in a cube of simulated space 350 million light years on each side. The results are reported in the May 8th issue of the journal Nature . Over the past two decades, researchers have been attempting to build accurate computer simulations of the development of the Universe, using computer programs which are capable of encapsulating all the relevant laws of physics governing the formation of galaxies. Previous attempts to simulate the universe were hampered by lack of computing power and the complexities of the underlying physics.