Galaxies Are Born Of Violence Between Dark Matter and Interstellar Gas

ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2007) — Researchers using supercomputer simulations have exposed a very violent and critical relationship between interstellar gas and dark matter when galaxies are born -- one that has been largely ignored by the current model of how the universe evolved.

The background image shows the large-scale cosmic context (the panel is approximately 100,000 light years across); the inset shows the central 2,000 light years of the dwarf galaxy where powerful feedback from newly born star clusters drives bulk motions in the gas. Stars are shown in yellow; colours from violet to blue to green to white correspond to gas of increasing density. (Credit: S. Mashchenko, J. Wadsley, and H. M. P. Couchman)