A large virtual picture of the Universe unveiled by Chinese astronomers recently has attracted the attention of international scientists, the People's Daily reported Monday.

Astronomers from the Shanghai Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) simulated cosmic movement and evolution using super computing servers and special software, the newspaper said.

Jing Yipeng, senior researcher with the observatory, and his team worked out a formula to describe how cosmic dark matter congregates, the newspaper said. The formula unravels the structure of the halo of cosmic dark matter.

Modern physicists believe that cosmic dark matter and its halo are basic to the study of the Universe. It is still a very difficult mission, however, to measure dark matter.

In the virtual picture, Jing's team identifies cosmic dark matter and dark energy, which have never been clearly isolated by human beings.

International scientists called the picture drawn by the Chinese as a competitive achievement in basic cosmic research, the paper said.

(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2005)