Cosmic filaments may be the biggest spinning objects in space
TL;DR
Scientists have discovered that cosmic filaments, the largest known structures in the universe, are rotating. These massive, twisting filaments of dark matter and galaxies stretch across hundreds of millions of light-years and play a crucial role in channeling matter to galaxy clusters. The finding challenges existing theories, as it was previously believed that rotation could not occur on such large scales. The research was confirmed through both computer simulations and real-world data, and it opens up new questions about how these giant structures acquire their spin
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Moons spin, stars spin, and even entire galaxies spin. Now, two groups of scientists have discovered that cosmic filaments, vast structures stretching hundreds of millions of light-years, also rotate, twisting like massive corkscrews.
Cosmic filaments are the largest known structures in the universe, containing most of its mass. These long, dense strands of dark matter and galaxies form the cosmic web, channeling matter toward galaxy clusters at their ends.
At the moment of the Big Bang, matter did not rotate. However, as stars and galaxies formed, they began to spin. Until recently, galaxy clusters were the largest known rotating structures. “The conventional view was that rotation ends there. You can’t generate torques on larger scales,” explains Noam Libeskind, a cosmologist at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam in Germany.
The discovery that filaments rotate — on a scale where galaxies appear as mere specks — poses a new challenge. “We don’t have a complete theory of how galaxies or filaments acquire their rotation,” says Mark Neyrinck, a cosmologist at the University of the Basque Country in Bilbao, Spain.
To investigate this rotation, Neyrinck and his team used a 3-D cosmological simulation to measure the velocities of dark matter clumps as they moved along filaments. Their findings, initially shared in 2020 on arXiv.org, are now in press with the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. At the same time, Libeskind’s team observed real cosmic filaments. Using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, they mapped galaxy motions and measured their velocities perpendicular to the filaments’ axes, reporting their findings on in Nature Astronomy.
Both teams, despite using different methods, detected similar rotational velocities in the filaments. Neyrinck views this as an encouraging sign that they are observing the same phenomenon.
Next, researchers aim to uncover the mechanism behind the spin of these colossal space structures. “What drives this process?” Libeskind asks. “Can we figure it out?”
