Scientists unveil Flagship 2, the largest universe simulation ever with 3.4 billion galaxies

Euclid Consortium, the international group that manages the European Space Agency’s Euclid space telescope, has published the largest ever simulation of the universe. Called Flagship 2, the simulation mapped 3.4 billion galaxies and tracks the gravitational interaction of more than 4 trillion particles.

Based on an algorithm designed by the astrophysicist Joachim Stadel from the University of Zurich, the simulation was run on Piz Daint, the third most powerful supercomputer in the world. The calculation was carried out back in 2019 and required more than 80 per cent of the supercomputer’s total capacity.

In a statement, astrophysicist Julian Adamek, who worked on the project, said that “these simulations are crucial for preparing the analysis of Euclid’s data.” For those not in the loop