Cosmography of the Local Universe

TL;DR

This paper visualizes and analyzes the large-scale structure of the universe, combining galaxy surveys and velocity data to support the standard cosmological model through advanced visualization tools and reconstructions.

Contribution

It introduces sophisticated visualization techniques and reconstructions that enhance understanding of the universe's large-scale structure and its consistency with cosmological theories.

Findings

Strong agreement between observed galaxy distributions and reconstructed density fields.

Reconstructed velocity and density fields support gravitational instability models.

Visualization tools aid in comprehending complex three-dimensional cosmic structures.

Abstract

The large scale structure of the universe is a complex web of clusters, filaments, and voids. Its properties are informed by galaxy redshift surveys and measurements of peculiar velocities. Wiener Filter reconstructions recover three-dimensional velocity and total density fields. The richness of the elements of our neighborhood are revealed with sophisticated visualization tools. A key component of this paper is an accompanying movie that can be viewed and downloaded at : http://irfu.cea.fr/cosmography or http://vimeo.com/pomarede/cosmography .The ability to translate and zoom helps the viewer follow structures in three dimensions and grasp the relationships between features on different scales while retaining a sense of orientation. The ability to dissolve between scenes provides a technique for comparing different information, for example, the observed distribution of galaxies, smoothed representations of the distribution accounting for selection effects, observed peculiar velocities, smoothed and modeled representations of those velocities, and inferred underlying density fields. The agreement between the large scale structure seen in redshift surveys and that inferred from reconstructions based on the radial peculiar velocities of galaxies strongly supports the standard model of cosmology where structure forms from gravitational instabilities and galaxies form at the bottom of potential wells.