University of Waterloo astrophysicists have created a 3D master map of the universe spanning nearly two billion light years . The innovative spherical map of galaxy superclusters is the most complete picture of our cosmic neighbourhood to date . It will help astrophysicists understand how matter is distributed in the universe and provide key insights into dark matter – one of physics ' greatest mysteries . Scroll down for video . A slice through the 3D Map of the nearby Universe . Our Milky Way galaxy is in the centre , marked by a cross . The map spans nearly two billion light years from side to side . Regions with many galaxies are shown in white or red , whereas regions with fewer galaxies are dark blue . The lighter blue and white areas on the map represent greater concentrations of galaxies . The red area is the supercluster called the Shapley Concentration , the largest collection of galaxies in the nearby universe . Unexplored areas are marked in uniform medium blue . Professor Michael Hudson , Jonathan Carrick and Stephen Turnbull , of Waterloo 's Department of Physics and Astronomy , and Guilhem Lavaux of the Institute d'Astrophysique de Paris of the Centre national de la recherche scientifique of France , created the map . Published online in the peer-review journal , Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society — one of the world 's leading primary research journals for astronomy and astrophysics , knowing the location and motion of matter in the universe will help astrophysicists predict the universe 's expansion and identify where , and how much dark matter exists . Dark matter accounts for a large majority of the mass content in the universe . It is a hypothesized form of matter particle that does not reflect or emit light and as a result it ca n't be seen or measured directly . The existence and properties of dark matter can only be inferred indirectly through its gravitational effects on visible matter and light . ' A better understanding of dark matter is central to understanding the formation of galaxies and the structures they live in such as galaxy clusters , superclusters and voids , ' said Hudson . Scientists have observed that galaxies move more than can be accounted for by the universe 's expansion . These discrepancies are called peculiar velocities . For example , our own Milky Way galaxy and its neighbour Andromeda are moving with a speed of 2 million km/hr . Previous models have n't fully accounted for this observed motion . Hudson and his team are interested in discovering what structures are responsible for the peculiar velocities . These deviations in the motion of galaxies are a valuable tool to determine the distribution of matter and dark matter on the largest scales . The next step is to get better maps and better samples of peculiar velocities to compare with our maps , the team say . They also created a video shows a 3D Map of the nearby Universe . The volume mapped is roughly circular , so it 's a bit like slicing an orange vertically from the edge through to the opposite edge . The location of our Milky Way Galaxy is in the centre of the middle frame ( marked SGZ=0 ) halfway through the movie . The map spans nearly two billion light year from side to side . Regions with many galaxies are shown in white or red , whereas regions with fewer galaxies are dark blue . It shows the density field smoothed with a Gaussian window of 4 Mpc/h .
Map spans nearly two billion light years . Will help astrophysicists predict the universe 's expansion . could help identify where , and how much dark matter exists .