Space Time
Fly through the real cosmic web
Explore 43,530 galaxies from the 2MASS Redshift Survey in 3D. Their measured positions and redshifts reveal the clusters, filaments, walls, and empty regions of the local universe.
🚀 Fly through the cosmic web Free · 43,530 survey galaxies · Runs in your browser
Built from the 2MASS survey
The map uses the 2MASS Redshift Survey published by Huchra and collaborators in 2012. Sky position and redshift are converted into 3D coordinates, and each point is weighted by infrared luminosity. The dark band is the Zone of Avoidance, where dust in the Milky Way hides distant galaxies from the survey.
Every dot answers when you click it
Any galaxy in the field is selectable. The card gives its distance and lookback time, and where the survey recorded a morphology it names the kind: elliptical, spiral or irregular. Color the field four ways from the Display menu: by distance for the redshift ramp, by galaxy type with old ellipticals warm and star-forming spirals blue, by local density, or plain. Brightness and dot-size dials are there too.
Choose a scientific or cinematic view
Scientific mode draws more than 20,000 links between dense regions of the survey. Cinematic mode adds glow and depth fog, with an optional volumetric density view on desktop. The controls let you switch each layer separately, and the distance readout identifies whether you are in a cluster, filament, wall, or void.
Connected to everything else
You can reach this view by zooming out from Earth through the solar system, nearby stars, and the Milky Way. Continue past Laniakea and the Great Attractor to the cosmic microwave background. Press G at any point to return home.
FAQ
Are the galaxies real or procedural?
Real. Every dot is one of 43,530 galaxies from the 2MASS Redshift Survey, placed by RA, Dec and a Hubble-law distance from its measured redshift.
How far does the map reach?
Past 500 megaparsecs of survey galaxies, more than a billion light-years of lookback time, with landmarks like the Shapley Supercluster and the Boötes Void beyond, and the CMB as the outer wall.
Can I click on individual galaxies?
Yes. Distance, lookback time and, where the survey knows it, the galaxy's type. Dot brightness follows real infrared luminosity.
What is the dark band across the field?
The Zone of Avoidance: our own Milky Way's dust hides the galaxies behind it. It is in the real data, so it is in the map.
Is it free?
Yes. In your browser, no account, no download.