Modern computation generates data -- lots and lots of data. Obtaining scientific knowledge from the results requires synthesizing vast datasets into fundamental understanding. A single image is unrivaled in its ability to produce not only insight but also beauty, revealing as a distillate what otherwise remains impenetrably hidden: 'a picture is worth a thousand terabytes.'

In visualization many aesthetic choices must be made. While an image from a computer simulation or a vast dataset can be functional, it can also be aesthetic. Astrophysics is a discipline rich in natural beauty, from planets and stars to galaxies and the large-scale structure of the Universe.

This project is dedicated to the most arresting, most captivating, and most pioneering visualization efforts in computational astrophysics. The hope is to inspire and motivate work beyond the functional, and to capture the evolving language of design within the context of our humble corner of space.

Have a suggestion or an amazing example? Suggestions are always welcome.

Dylan Nelson

au6 magnetic field

The magnetic field strength and topology of a simulated Milky Way galaxy near redshift zero. Color encodes the magnitude of the magnetic field, while thin lines show its local directionality. The image shows Auriga 6, from the Auriga set of cosmological zoom simulations to inform the rapidly growing field of "Galactic archaeology" that aims to determine the formation history of the Milky Way from chemo-dynamical information of many individual stars.

Methods: line integral convolution (LIC)

date added Feb. 18, 2019

categories 3d, cosmological, galaxy

author Ruediger Pakmor

origin Auriga