“Flying Through the Known Universe” Screens at 3D Film Festival in L.A.

September 19, 2012

This image is a mosaic of the Perseus Cluster, captured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Similar to other large galaxy clusters, this cluster contains mostly old, elliptical galaxies. Their yellowish hue is primarily due to older stellar populations, such as red giants.

A 3D movie flight through hundreds of thousands of galaxies at considerably faster than the speed of light has its world-premiere screening at the 3D Film Festival this Thursday, Sept. 20 through Saturday, Sept. 22 in Los Angeles.

Created by Yushu Yao of NERSC, with Prabhat of Computational Research and David Schlegel of Physics, the movie’s Sloan Digital Sky Survey data includes photos of some of the actual galaxies. A 2D peek – the view from the left eye – is temporarily available here, but for the 3D version you’ll have to check out the 3D Festival in Hollywood or attend Berkeley Lab's Open House on October 13.

About Computing Sciences at Berkeley Lab

High performance computing plays a critical role in scientific discovery. Researchers increasingly rely on advances in computer science, mathematics, computational science, data science, and large-scale computing and networking to increase our understanding of ourselves, our planet, and our universe. Berkeley Lab’s Computing Sciences Area researches, develops, and deploys new foundations, tools, and technologies to meet these needs and to advance research across a broad range of scientific disciplines.