This is the most detailed map yet of our place in the universe

A supercluster spanning 500 million light-years with over 100,000 galaxies!

Key Takeaways

1. Astronomers mapped the Milky Way’s position within Laniakea, a massive galaxy supercluster.
2. Laniakea contains over 100,000 galaxies and stretches 500 million light-years across.
3. The “Great Attractor” in Laniakea is pulling galaxies, including the Milky Way, toward it.
4. This supercluster redefines our local cosmic neighborhood, merging older concepts like the Virgo Supercluster.
5. Laniakea is just one of many colossal superclusters, revealing how vast and interconnected the universe is.

_________

Discovering the Laniakea Supercluster

In 2014, a groundbreaking study published in Nature provided the most detailed map of our cosmic neighborhood yet. The research, led by R. Brent Tully from the University of Hawaii, revealed that the Milky Way is part of an enormous structure called the Laniakea Supercluster. This supercluster spans 500 million light-years, contains over 100,000 galaxies, and extends far beyond what astronomers previously imagined.

The word “Laniakea” aptly translates to “immeasurable heavens” in Hawaiian, capturing the awe-inspiring scale of this discovery. Prior to this, scientists grouped our galaxy within the Virgo Supercluster, but Tully’s team found that Virgo is merely one small section of the much larger Laniakea.

How Was Laniakea Mapped?

To uncover the structure of Laniakea, researchers analyzed the motion of approximately 8,000 nearby galaxies. The universe has been expanding since the Big Bang, but gravity causes some galaxies to move toward one another. By studying these movements, the team identified pathways of galaxy motion and defined boundaries within the supercluster.

One key finding was the identification of “The Great Attractor,” a dense region of Laniakea that exerts gravitational pull, drawing the Milky Way and other galaxies toward it. This analysis helped delineate Laniakea’s extent and differentiate it from neighboring superclusters like Perseus-Pisces.

A New Cosmic Perspective

The discovery of Laniakea reshaped our understanding of the universe’s structure. While superclusters were already known, Laniakea’s immense size and complex motion pathways highlight the intricate web of galaxies that make up the cosmos. Even Laniakea is just one of many superclusters, surrounded by vast voids and other dense regions.

When viewed on the largest scales, the universe resembles a cosmic web, with superclusters like Laniakea connected by filaments of galaxies and separated by enormous voids. While the map of Laniakea provides unprecedented detail, it represents only a small part of the broader universe.

This discovery underscores the vastness of the cosmos and our place within it. By mapping structures like Laniakea, astronomers take crucial steps toward understanding the universe’s origins, evolution, and interconnectedness.