We introduce the Virgo Consortium's EAGLE project, a suite of hydrodynamical simulations that follow the formation of galaxies and supermassive black holes in cosmologically representative volumes of a standard ΛCDM universe. We discuss the limitations of such simulations in light of their finite resolution and poorly constrained subgrid physics, and how these affect their predictive power. One major improvement is our treatment of feedback from massive stars and AGN in which thermal energy is injected into the gas without the need to turn off cooling or decouple hydrodynamical forces, allowing winds to develop without predetermined speed or mass loading factors. Because the feedback efficiencies cannot be predicted from first principles, we calibrate them to the present-day galaxy stellar mass function and the amplitude of the galaxy-central black hole mass relation, also taking galaxy sizes into account. The observed galaxy stellar mass function is reproduced to < ∼ 0.2 dex over the full resolved mass range, 10 8 < M * /M < ∼ 10 11 , a level of agreement close to that attained by semi-analytic models, and unprecedented for hydrodynamical simulations. We compare our results to a representative set of low-redshift observables not considered in the calibration, and find good agreement with the observed galaxy specific star formation rates, passive fractions, Tully-Fisher relation, total stellar luminosities of galaxy clusters, and column density distributions of intergalactic C iv and O vi. While the mass-metallicity relations for gas and stars are consistent with observations for M * > ∼ 10 9 M (M * > ∼ 10 10 M at intermediate resolution), they are insufficiently steep at lower masses. For the reference model the gas fractions and temperatures are too high for clusters of galaxies, but for galaxy groups these discrepancies can be resolved by adopting a higher heating temperature in the subgrid prescription for AGN feedback. The EAGLE simulation suite, which also includes physics variations and higher-resolution zoomed-in volumes described elsewhere, constitutes a valuable new resource for studies of galaxy formation.

We present the public data release of halo and galaxy catalogues extracted from the eagle suite of cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation. These simulations were performed with an enhanced version of the gadget code that includes a modified hydrodynamics solver, time-step limiter and subgrid treatments of baryonic physics, such as stellar mass loss, element-by-element radiative cooling, star formation and feedback from star formation and black hole accretion. The simulation suite includes runs performed in volumes ranging from 25 to 100 comoving megaparsecs per side, with numerical resolution chosen to marginally resolve the Jeans mass of the gas at the star formation threshold. The free parameters of the subgrid models for feedback are calibrated to the redshift z = 0 galaxy stellar mass function, galaxy sizes and black hole mass -stellar mass relation. The simulations have been shown to match a wide range of observations for present-day and higher-redshift galaxies. The raw particle data have been used to link galaxies across redshifts by creating merger trees. The indexing of the tree produces a simple way to connect a galaxy at one redshift to its progenitors at higher redshift and to identify its descendants at lower redshift. In this paper we present a relational database which we are making available for general use. A large number of properties of haloes and galaxies and their merger trees are stored in the database, including stellar masses, star formation rates, metallicities, photometric measurements and mock gri images. Complex queries can be created to explore the evolution of more than 10 5 galaxies, examples of which are provided in appendix. The relatively good and broad agreement of the simulations with a wide range of observational datasets makes the database an ideal resource for the analysis of model galaxies through time, and for connecting and interpreting observational datasets.

We present mock optical images, broad-band and Hα fluxes, and D4000 spectral indices for 30, 145 galaxies from the eagle hydrodynamical simulation at redshift z = 0.1, modelling dust with the skirt Monte Carlo radiative transfer code. The modelling includes a subgrid prescription for dusty star-forming regions, with both the subgrid obscuration of these regions and the fraction of metals in diffuse interstellar dust calibrated against far-infrared fluxes of local galaxies. The predicted optical colours as a function of stellar mass agree well with observation, with the skirt model showing marked improvement over a simple dust screen model. The orientation dependence of attenuation is weaker than observed because eagle galaxies are generally puffier than real galaxies, due to the pressure floor imposed on the interstellar medium. The mock Hα luminosity function agrees reasonably well with the data, and we quantify the extent to which dust obscuration affects observed Hα fluxes. The distribution of D4000 break values is bimodal, as observed. In the simulation, 20 per cent of galaxies deemed 'passive' for the skirt model, i.e. exhibiting D4000 > 1.8, are classified 'active' when ISM dust attenuation is not included. The fraction of galaxies with stellar mass greater than 10 10 M that are deemed passive is slightly smaller than observed, which is due to low levels of residual star formation in these simulated galaxies. Colour images, fluxes and spectra of eagle galaxies are to be made available through the public eagle database.We provide a brief overview of the eagle simulation suite, see Schaye et al. (2015); Crain et al. (2015), hereafter S15 and C15, respectively, for full details, review the population synthesis model and dust treatment of T15, and briefly describe the volume-limited sample of galaxies compiled from the gama survey (Driver et al. 2009).

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a b s t r a c tWe discuss the architecture and design principles that underpin the latest version of SKIRT, a state-ofthe-art open source code for simulating continuum radiation transfer in dusty astrophysical systems, such as spiral galaxies and accretion disks. SKIRT employs the Monte Carlo technique to emulate the relevant physical processes including scattering, absorption and emission by the dust. The code features a wealth of built-in geometries, radiation source spectra, dust characterizations, dust grids, and detectors, in addition to various mechanisms for importing snapshots generated by hydrodynamical simulations. The configuration for a particular simulation is defined at run-time through a user-friendly interface suitable for both occasional and power users. These capabilities are enabled by careful C++ code design. The programming interfaces between components are well defined and narrow. Adding a new feature is usually as simple as adding another class; the user interface automatically adjusts to allow configuring the new options. We argue that many scientific codes, like SKIRT, can benefit from careful object-oriented design and from a friendly user interface, even if it is not a graphical user interface.