Astronomers have recently revealed that our galaxy, the Milky Way, might be part of a much larger cosmic structure than previously thought.
This discovery could significantly alter our understanding of the universe’s evolution, suggesting that current models are not entirely accurate. Exploring the universe, we realize that the Milky Way is not isolated but part of much more complex and interconnected structures.
Our Sun orbits within the Milky Way, which in turn belongs to the Local Group, a collection of galaxies that also includes the Andromeda galaxy.
However, new research indicates that the Local Group is on the outskirts of the Virgo Supercluster, which is part of an even more massive structure known as Laniakea. Laniakea, in turn, appears to be enclosed in a “basin of attraction” (BoA) ten times larger than its volume.
These basins are gigantic structures where gravity does not completely dominate, but a flow of galaxies moving together is still observed.
Astronomers have analyzed the movement of 56,000 galaxies to build a map of the local universe, based on the velocities and trajectories of the galaxies. According to the University of Hawaii at Manoa, “the universe is similar to a cosmic web“, where galaxies are distributed along filaments and cluster in nodes where the gravitational force is stronger.
The discovery of these basins of attraction could radically change our understanding of cosmic structures. Simulations based on the collected data suggest that the BoAs enclose several gigantic structures, such as the enigmatic region of the Great Attractor.
Near our galaxy, evidence emerges of a BoA centered around the dark Ophiuchus cluster, located behind the center of the Milky Way.
This BoA could include both the Great Attractor and Laniakea itself.
Additionally, the Sloan Great Wall, one of the largest known cosmic structures, has emerged from the maps as part of this complex. Creating these maps requires detailed tracing of the movements of galaxies and their mutual interactions to understand the “cosmic currents” that influence them.
However, uncertainties are still significant.
According to the team’s simulations, there is a 60% probability that the Milky Way does not belong to Laniakea but rather to the Shapley concentration, another vast cosmic structure. These discoveries could have a profound impact on the models that describe the universe, especially if further observations confirm the existence of structures of such colossal dimensions.
Noam Libeskind of the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics in Potsdam stated: “It is not surprising that, as we delve deeper into the study of cosmic space, we discover more and more connections and extensions within our original supercluster.” The possibility of belonging to an even larger structure is a fascinating hypothesis, but to definitively confirm the extent of these structures, further observations and analyses will be necessary.
The study, published in Nature Astronomy, marks an important step towards a better understanding of the complex cosmic web we are part of.
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