[en] We will discuss the challenges of visualizing large cosmological datasets. These include observational issues such as the masks and incomplete nature of the survey volume, cosmological issues such as redshift distortions and the difficulty of visualizing datasets that span cosmological epochs, as well as the inherent visualization challenges in presenting dense three-dimensional (3D) datasets. Two case studies will be presented. The first will feature the identification of filamentary structures in the large scale distribution of galaxies. The second case study will feature visualizations of the correlations between quasar absorption line systems and luminous red galaxies. Finally, we will give an overview of our visualization work-flow which features the use of the open-source 3D modeling program Blender.

[en] We have found an isolated polar disk galaxy in what appears to be a cosmological wall situated between two voids. This void galaxy is unique as its polar disk was discovered serendipitously in an H I survey of SDSS void galaxies, with no optical counterpart to the H I polar disk. Yet the H I mass in the disk is comparable to the stellar mass in the galaxy. This suggests slow accretion of the H I material at a relatively recent time. There is also a hint of a warp in the outer parts of the H I disk. The central, stellar disk appears relatively blue, with faint near-UV emission, and is oriented (roughly) parallel to the surrounding wall, implying gas accretion from the voids. The considerable gas mass and apparent lack of stars in the polar disk, coupled with the general underdensity of the environment, supports recent theories of cold flow accretion as an alternate formation mechanism for polar disk galaxies.

[en] Void galaxies, residing within the deepest underdensities of the Cosmic Web, present an ideal population for the study of galaxy formation and evolution in an environment undisturbed by the complex processes modifying galaxies in clusters and groups, as well as provide an observational test for theories of cosmological structure formation. We have completed a pilot survey for the H I imaging aspects of a new Void Galaxy Survey (VGS), imaging 15 void galaxies in H I in local (d < 100 Mpc) voids. H I masses range from 3.5 x 10⁸ to 3.8 x 10⁹ M_sun, with one nondetection with an upper limit of 2.1 x 10⁸ M_sun. Our galaxies were selected using a structural and geometric technique to produce a sample that is purely environmentally selected and uniformly represents the void galaxy population. In addition, we use a powerful new backend of the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope that allows us to probe a large volume around each targeted galaxy, simultaneously providing an environmentally constrained sample of fore- and background control samples of galaxies while still resolving individual galaxy kinematics and detecting faint companions in H I. This small sample makes up a surprisingly interesting collection of perturbed and interacting galaxies, all with small stellar disks. Four galaxies have significantly perturbed H I disks, five have previously unidentified companions at distances ranging from 50 to 200 kpc, two are in interacting systems, and one was found to have a polar H I disk. Our initial findings suggest void galaxies are a gas-rich, dynamic population which present evidence of ongoing gas accretion, major and minor interactions, and filamentary alignment despite the surrounding underdense environment.