MessageToEagle.com - The current model is based on Einstein's equations assuming everything is smooth on the
largest scales.
If matter were instead clumpy on very large scales, then the entire model would need to be rethought.
We know that stars group together to form galaxies, galaxies clump to make clusters and clusters
gather to create structures known as superclusters.
At what scale though, if at all, does this Russian doll-like structure stop? Scientists have been debating
this very question for decades because clustering on large scales would be in conflict with our 'standard model' of cosmology.
Cosmologists agree that on 'small' scales (tens of millions of light years), matter in the Universe is highly
clustered. So the 'standard model' can only hold true if the Universe transitions to an even distribution of
matter (homogeneity) on larger scales, irrespective of the viewing direction.
However, some scientists have recently argued that the entire Universe never becomes homogenous, and that
it is clustered on all scales, much like one of Mandelbrot's famous 'fractals' (a snowflake is a good
example of a fractal).
If the Universe has properties similar to a fractal, our description of space and
time is wrong, and our understanding of things like Dark Energy is deeply flawed.
This image is a slice from a large simulation called 'GiggleZ' which complements the WiggleZ survey.
It shows a snapshot of the large-scale matter distribution as studied in Morag Scrimgeour's research.
Image Credit: Greg Poole, Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing, Swinburne University.
New data from a recently completed galaxy survey was published last night by a PhD student from the International
Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) and The University of Western Australia in Perth and her colleagues.
This paper might finally put an end to this long running debate.
Using the Anglo-Australian Telescope, Ms Morag Scrimgeour has found that on distance scales larger than 350
million light years, matter is distributed extremely evenly, with little sign of fractal-like patterns.
“We used a survey called WiggleZ which contains more than 200,000 galaxies, and probes a cosmic volume of about
3 billion light years, cubed,” Ms Scrimgeour explains “This makes it the largest survey ever used for this
type of measurement of the large scale Universe.”
This finding is extremely significant for cosmologists as it confirms that the tools being used to describe
the Universe are the right tools for the job after all. Had evidence been found confirming large-scale
fractals, it would have left cosmologists without a working model for the Universe, sending them back to
the drawing board to painstakingly adjust theories.
“Our entire understanding of the Universe, even how we interpret the light we see from stars and galaxies,
would be affected if the Universe were not even on large scales.
By looking at how the WiggleZ galaxies are distributed in space on scales up to 930 million light years,
we find that they are very close to homogeneous, meaning there is no large-scale clustering.
So we can say with a high degree of certainty that our picture of the large-scale Universe is correct,”
said Ms Scrimgeour.
A Lonely Galactic Island - Nine Million Light-Years Away From Our Solar System
The Milky Way galaxy is part of a larger cosmic neighborhood, consisting of more than 35 galaxies known as the Local Group.
One of the most prominent members of the Local group and at the same time - our neighbor is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy...
Perfect Computer Simulation -
14 Billion Years Of Cosmic Evolution Recreated!
Observing birth and evolution of galaxy is now possible!
Using Odyssey, Harvard’s largest supercomputer, astrophysicists have
developed a new computational approach that can accurately map the birth and evolution of thousands of galaxies over billions of years...
MessageToEagle.com - The current model is based on Einstein's equations assuming everything is smooth on the
largest scales.
The discovery that our Sun is almost a perfect sphere comes as somewhat of a shock to scientists, who have conducted precise measurements of its dimensions.
This is surprising news to scientists who have always expected...
The Milky Way galaxy is part of a larger cosmic neighborhood, consisting of more than 35 galaxies known as the Local Group.
One of the most prominent members of the Local group and at the same time - our neighbor is M31, the Andromeda Galaxy...
Observing birth and evolution of galaxy is now possible!
Using Odyssey, Harvard’s largest supercomputer, astrophysicists have
developed a new computational approach that can accurately map the birth and evolution of thousands of galaxies over billions of years...
