Using Unreal Engine to Visualize a Cosmological Volume
  In this work we present `Astera', a cosmological visualization tool that
renders a mock universe in real time using Unreal Engine 4. The large scale
structure of the cosmic web is hard to visualize in two dimensions, and a 3D
real time projection of this distribution allows for an unprecedented view of
the large scale universe, with visually accurate galaxies placed in a dynamic
3D world. The underlying data are based on empirical relations assigned using
results from N-Body dark matter simulations, and are matched to galaxies with
similar morphologies and sizes, images of which are extracted from the Sloan
Digital Sky Survey. Within Unreal Engine 4, galaxy images are transformed into
textures and dynamic materials (with appropriate transparency) that are applied
to static mesh objects with appropriate sizes and locations. To ensure
excellent performance, these static meshes are `instanced' to utilize the full
capabilities of a graphics processing unit. Additional components include a
dynamic system for representing accelerated-time active galactic nuclei. The
end result is a visually realistic large scale universe that can be explored by
a user in real time, with accurate large scale structure. Astera is not yet
ready for public release, but we are exploring options to make different
versions of the code available for both research and outreach applications.
