Mapping the Hidden Structure of the Universe

Update - I've temporarily removed the links on this post. The CCNR website appears to have been hacked and is now redirecting to porn sites. 

Computer simulations of the universe and large scale galaxy surveys suggest that long filaments connect galaxies within the Universe. This concept of a 'cosmic web' views the Universe as a set of discrete galaxies held together by gravity. Thanks to Kim Albrecht, at the Center for Complex Network Research, you can now view three distinct mapped models of the cosmic web.

Scientists at the Center for Complex Network Research tested seven distinct network algorithms to learn more about the construction and the characteristics of the underlying network of the cosmic web. Their research has revealed more about how galaxies fit together within the Universe.

In The Network Behind the Cosmic Web Kim Albrecht has created three interactive visualizations of the cosmic web based on the three main models that were tested by the Center for Complex Network Research. These three 3d models of the universe present a mapped network of 24,000 galaxies with more than 100,000 connections. The three models are the Fixed Length Model, the Varying Length Model and the Nearest Neighbors Model.

In Albrecht's Cosmic Web Visualization you can switch between the three different models using the links in the side panel. You can rotate each 3d model using your mouse and zoom in and out using the mouse scroll wheel. You can also use the histogram in the side panel to adjust the number of connections per galaxy in the model.