The Electronic Universe (University of Oregon)

For every gram of matter in the universe that shines or radiates energy, there are between 10 and 100 grams of matter that give off no light at all. This mysterious dark matter is not made up of atoms or molecules, so scientists can only theorize and speculate about its nature. However, the gravitational effects of dark matter are indisputable and affects the motion and evolution of the largest structures in the universe, including galaxies, clusters, and superclusters. This movie shows how dark matter moves and distributes itself to make certain types of galaxies.

Dark matter and structure development

There is a wide range of galaxy types, shapes and sizes, which means the process of forming galaxies is very complex. In addition, most all galaxies today are embedded in some larger-scale structure. Structure formation could have occurred either from the fragmentation of very large regions into smaller regions, or from the gravitational attraction of small pieces into successively larger structures. Both formation scenarios lead to a highly clustered universe with structure on many different size scales. This particular movie shows how an evenly distributed amount of dark matter, given time, will form structures such as elliptical blobs, webs, and filaments, purely from the force of gravity.

Austin Reiter