April 2, 2009--The most detailed survey yet of galaxies near our own will help astronomers uncover how matter--both seen and unseen--is distributed. Within our cosmic neighborhood, the survey counted more than a hundred thousand galaxies, seen above as dots in a computer simulation.

"It's like taking a snapshot of wildebeest on the African plain.We can tell which waterholes they're heading to and how fast they're traveling," study leader Heath Jones, of the Anglo-Australian Observatory, said in a statement. Knowing galaxies' speeds and directions can help researchers map the gravitational forces that show where matter lurks.

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