The Cosmic WebBy Zoe Zontos

Road Map•What is the cosmic web?• The importance of dark halos/matter• A visual glance of the cosmic web•What’s in our ‘neighborhood’?• Importance for future discoveries• Questions?• References

The ‘cosmic web’ connects galaxies in the

cosmos.•What is the cosmic web?

• Distribution of galaxies is not random

• Background radiation reveals the ‘seeds’ for galaxy formation

Dark halos contain the dark matter that

influences the cosmic web.

• Dark matter is the most dominant mass

• Develop the filaments that form cosmic connections

• Shapes of dark matter depends on gravity – turn out to be halos

• Scaling of clusters similar to scaling of galaxies

The position of each element in the cosmic web are shown in the schematic diagrams below.

Source: http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~george/ay21/readings/local_cosmic_web.pdf

Studying the cosmic web has led to discoveries in

our own ‘backyard’.• High-velocity clouds surround the Milky Way and Andromeda

• The Milky Way hosts a larger population of dwarf galaxies

• The Milky Way and Local Group are continuously accreting gas and evolving

• Galactic archaeology is being used to search for groups with a common origin

Continuous new discoveries about the cosmic web will reveal more important information.

• GAIA experiment will map and measure the motions of over a billion stars to reunite dispersed stars from ancient accretion events

• Influx of information will reveal new data on the kinematics and detailed chemistry of billions of stars

• We get closer to understanding the origins of the Milky Way and Local Group galaxies and their connection to the cosmic web

Questions?

References• Ibata, Rodrigo A., and Geraint F. Lewis. "The Cosmic Web in Our

Own Backyard." Science 319 (n.d.): 50-52. 4 Jan. 2008. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.