The MEGATRON project, led by astrophysicist Harley Katz from the University of Chicago, has produced a detailed computer model of the early Milky Way. The simulation required three years of supercomputer processing to analyze two billion years of cosmic evolution, starting 180 million years after the Big Bang.
The model illustrates the formation of a large galaxy from thousands of smaller structures that collided and merged. Researchers incorporated complex physical factors, including gravity, hydrodynamics, radiation, chemical reactions, and stellar evolution, while accounting for non-equilibrium processes in the early universe.
Findings include the identification of starless, light-emitting galaxies and a potential explanation for the chemical composition of dwarf systems. The team suggests that Population III stars, the universe's first generation, may have influenced the distribution of iron in these early structures.
The simulation indicates that 12 billion years ago, the Milky Way's ancestor likely possessed a rotating disk and contained significant amounts of dust and heavy elements. The model results were published in a series of six articles in The Open Journal of Astrophysics.
Scientists noted that while the model does not perfectly match all current observations from telescopes like Hubble and James Webb, these discrepancies are valuable. They serve as indicators for physical processes that are currently missing from existing galaxy formation theories.
