APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

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APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by APOD Robot » Tue Oct 31, 2017 4:11 am

Image Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe

Explanation: Is our universe haunted? It might look that way on this dark matter map. The gravity of unseen dark matter is the leading explanation for why galaxies rotate so fast, why galaxies orbit clusters so fast, why gravitational lenses so strongly deflect light, and why visible matter is distributed as it is both in the local universe and on the cosmic microwave background. The featured image from the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium Space Show Dark Universe highlights one example of how pervasive dark matter might haunt our universe. In this frame from a detailed computer simulation, complex filaments of dark matter, shown in black, are strewn about the universe like spider webs, while the relatively rare clumps of familiar baryonic matter are colored orange. These simulations are good statistical matches to astronomical observations. In what is perhaps a scarier turn of events, dark matter -- although quite strange and in an unknown form -- is no longer thought to be the strangest source of gravity in the universe. That honor now falls to dark energy, a more uniform source of repulsive gravity that seems to now dominate the expansion of the entire universe.

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by Boomer12k » Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:10 am

Like a painting that starts from a drawing... the sketch behind the painting...

The "framework of All That Is"?

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by DL Martin » Tue Oct 31, 2017 7:31 am

Reminiscent of the brain's nervous system, n'est-ce pas!

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by Boomer12k » Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:09 am

Maybe we could harness the "Dark Matter Currents", and RIDE....

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by Ann » Tue Oct 31, 2017 8:29 am

It's a nice illustration, and quite thought-provoking.

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by Fred the Cat » Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:43 pm

DL Martin wrote:Reminiscent of the brain's nervous system, n'est-ce pas!
Or the universe's lymphatic system, s'il vous plaît. :ssmile:
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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by neufer » Tue Oct 31, 2017 12:57 pm

Fred the Cat wrote:
DL Martin wrote:
Reminiscent of the brain's nervous system, n'est-ce pas!
Or the universe's lymphatic system, s'il vous plaît. :ssmile:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_mold wrote:
<<When a slime mold mass or mound is physically separated, the cells find their way back to re-unite. Studies on Physarum have even shown an ability to learn and predict periodic unfavorable conditions in laboratory experiments. John Tyler Bonner, a professor of ecology known for his studies of slime molds, argues that they are "no more than a bag of amoebae encased in a thin slime sheath, yet they manage to have various behaviours that are equal to those of animals who possess muscles and nerves with ganglia – that is, simple brains."
Click to play embedded YouTube video.
:arrow: Atsushi Tero of Hokkaido University grew the slime mold Physarum polycephalum in a flat wet dish, placing the mold in a central position representing Tokyo and oat flakes surrounding it corresponding to the locations of other major cities in the Greater Tokyo Area. As Physarum avoids bright light, light was used to simulate mountains, water and other obstacles in the dish. The mold first densely filled the space with plasmodia, then thinned the network to focus on efficiently connected branches. The network strikingly resembled Tokyo's rail system.>>
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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by sillyworm2 » Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:48 pm

That is quite the analogy Art!

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by heehaw » Tue Oct 31, 2017 9:23 pm

Sure makes me feel at home in the universe!

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by rstevenson » Tue Oct 31, 2017 10:41 pm

It seems appropriate on Hallowe'en to show that Dark really matters.

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by Boomer12k » Wed Nov 01, 2017 12:49 am

Just imagine...
In the "Dark Matter Universe", with DM planets and people, they look at their "Bright Matter Universe" Simulation, and WONDER....

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by neufer » Wed Nov 01, 2017 2:28 am


Boomer12k wrote:
Just imagine...

In the "Dark Matter Universe", with DM planets and people,
they look at their "Bright Matter Universe" Simulation, and WONDER....
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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by ta152h0 » Wed Nov 01, 2017 2:31 am

looks like blackberry bushes gone wild
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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by pbrox » Mon Nov 06, 2017 7:16 am

Is it correct to say that the dark matter is coalescing near and literally connecting the baryonic matter? and is acting like a 'sheath' of some sort? It looks like the 'fibers' of dark matter are also connecting the galaxies and clusters as if they are being held together in by some kind of gravitational or magnetic pull? Wouldn't this go against the stance (most) Dark Matter doesn't interact with baryonic matter?

Obviously I don't understand any of this but thanks to this picture and forum I can throw ideas out there.

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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by ta152h0 » Mon Nov 06, 2017 9:06 am

hmmm, the speed of darkness is the same as the speed of light
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Re: APOD: Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe (2017 Oct 31)

Post by neufer » Mon Nov 06, 2017 1:40 pm

pbrox wrote:
Is it correct to say that the dark matter is coalescing near and literally connecting the baryonic matter? and is acting like a 'sheath' of some sort? It looks like the 'fibers' of dark matter are also connecting the galaxies and clusters as if they are being held together in by some kind of gravitational or magnetic pull? Wouldn't this go against the stance (most) Dark Matter doesn't interact with baryonic matter?
Dark Matter does interact with baryonic matter gravitationally.

Dark Matter may interact with baryonic matter through the weak force.

Dark Matter may interact with itself through some other mysterious long and/or short distance forces.
Art Neuendorffer