Video Show: A Blueprint for the Universe

This still shows a snapshot of the universe as simulated by NASA's Pleiades supercomputer, the seventh fastest in the world. The Bolshoi universe simulation is the most realistic view of the universe to date and was released in late September 2011.

This still from a NASA video shows a snapshot of the universe as simulated by NASA's Pleiades supercomputer, the seventh fastest in the world. The Bolshoi universe simulation is the most realistic view of the universe to date and was released in late September 2011. (Image credit: NASA/UCSC)

The universe is a big place, near-infintely big, but there's a structure to our cosmos that astronomers are hard at work unraveling. Take a tour of some of the out-of-this-world structures that make our universe tick in this video show, "A Blueprint for the Universe," the first stop in SPACE.com's eight-weekday series to look at our universe's mysteries entitiled: The History & Future of the Cosmos.

Episode 1: The Dark Force

Episode 2: Yesterday's News

Episode 3: Edge of the Known

Episode 4: The Matter of Matter

Episode 5: The Grand Architecture

Episode 6: Galaxy Collision

Episode 7: Galactic Lives

Episode 8: The Tully Collection

Episode 9: Beyond the Event Horizon

Episode 10: Galaxy: Home

Episode 11: Extra-Solar Worlds

Episode 12: Jewels and Junk

Episode 13: Birth in the Family of Sol

Episode 14: The Perfect Ballet

Episode 15: Rivers in the Sky

Episode 16: Know Your Place

Episode 17: From Radar to Redshift

Episode 18: Your Universe

It took quite a bit more than seven days to create the universe as we know it today. SPACE.com looks at the mysteries of the heavens in our eight-part series: The History & Future of the Cosmos. This is Part 1 in that series.

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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.