The Universe's Largest Simulation Released: Flagship 2

The European House Company’s Euclid telescope and the Flagship 2 simulation unveil the biggest digital universe ever, encompassing 3.4 billion galaxies. New clues about darkish vitality and customary cosmology are on the way in which.

There isn’t a definitive reply to the query, “Are we dwelling in a simulation?” Nevertheless, it’s sure that humanity has created its personal simulations. Moreover, these simulations are actually getting used to discover the deepest secrets and techniques of the universe.

The Euclid Consortium, which manages the European House Company’s Euclid telescope, has launched essentially the most complete simulation of the universe ever ready. This digital universe map, known as Flagship 2, covers 3.4 billion galaxies and tracks the gravitational interactions of over 4 trillion particles.

This large enterprise was ready utilizing an algorithm developed by astrophysicist Joachim Stadel from the College of Zurich. In 2019, Stadel used one of many world’s strongest supercomputers, Piz Daint, to create this extremely detailed digital universe.

Getting ready for the Euclid Mission

Julian Adamek, an astrophysicist concerned within the challenge, states that these simulations are important for analyzing the info collected by Euclid.

The Euclid telescope, operational since 2023, observes billions of galaxies and investigates the distribution of darkish matter and darkish vitality within the universe. The spacecraft is about to survey roughly one-third of the sky. As a result of such an enormous quantity of knowledge is being produced, simulations like Flagship 2 contribute to a sooner and extra environment friendly course of.

The Limits of the Normal Mannequin

Researchers anticipate Euclid‘s observations to largely align with the predictions in Flagship 2. Nevertheless, they’re additionally ready for surprises within the universe. It’s because Flagship 2 is constructed upon the presently accepted customary cosmological mannequin. In Stadel’s phrases, “We’re seeing indicators that cracks are forming within the Normal Mannequin.”

Probably the most thrilling subject for the group is darkish vitality, which is accelerating the enlargement of the universe. In accordance with the present mannequin, this vitality is accepted as a relentless worth. Nevertheless, Euclid will make clear the universe as much as 10 billion years in the past, testing whether or not this vitality is actually fixed. Adamek says, “We can see how the universe expanded throughout that interval and measure if this fixed has modified.”

Euclid‘s preliminary commentary outcomes have been shared with the general public in March 2025. New datasets are anticipated to be introduced within the spring of 2026.