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Large Scale front view

What's Bigger than a Galaxy?

A typical distribution of matter (light and dark) in a 100-megaparsec cube of the universe.  Scaled into this map, the Galaxy Crystal would be less than 1 millimeter wide.

The cosmological model for this piece is tuned to match the Sloan Survey, an investigation of all galaxies we can see in one quadrant of the sky. It takes us out to within 1000 megaparsecs of Earth.  The survey isn't finished yet, so you are looking at current research.  Both bright and dark matter are shown, but dark energy hasn't (yet) entered the picture.

This crystal is 2 1/2" square by 3 1/4" tall.

The Largest Structures Known

The types of feature shown in this model - filaments, sheets and supergalaxy clusters - are too big to see in the night sky.  The biggest concentration here is like the Virgo Cluster.

Click here to see this structure rotate.

Click here to see this structure condense from cold dark matter.

 

Our local group of galaxies is located on the edge of a filament extending from the Virgo Cluster to the Fornax Cluster.  In this model, which is not a literal map, we would be about a quarter of the cube away from the largest cluster. 

Large Scale corner view

The data for this sculpture was created by Professor Quinn and Dr. Stadel at the University of Washington, under funding from the NASA Earth and Space Sciences/High Performance Computing and Communication Program.  You can learn more about their research at the delightful N-Body Shop site.  This data is used by permission of the copyright owners.

Large Scale crystal - $62

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All the Universe in a Grain of Sand

A research-quality model of the largest cosmological structures that we know of.


The Large Scale Crystal comes with clear rubber feet to avoid scratches on your desk or mantel.  Without a stand it works best against a dark background.


White light stand - $21

Light up your universe with this sleek piano-finish stand.  The LEDs are cool, long-lasting, bright by day or night, and use little energy. 

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