The cosmic “supercluster” in which the Milky Way resides has been mapped for the first time, showing that our home galaxy is slowly being dragged towards an area of space called the “Great Attractor”.
The study opens up a new horizon on the Universe by demonstrating that beyond our solar system and galaxy there exists an even larger structure that can be traced out, containing about 100,000 galaxies.
Elmo Tempel, a cosmologist at Tartu observatory in Estonia, said: “The most important aspect, from a human perspective, is the discovery that there exist much bigger systems in our local Universe than previously thought.” Andrew Pontzen, a cosmologist at University College London, said that the findings were “impressive and important”.
The supercluster, which has been named Laniakea, meaning “immense heaven” in Hawaiian, is an intricate network of clusters of galaxies. Previously scientists had struggled to map where one supercluster ended and another began.
In the study, published in the journal N ature, the University of Hawaii team were able to map out the direction and speed at which all the galaxies are moving. They found that the Milky Way is moving towards an area of space called the Great Attractor.
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When mapped out, the “flowing” galaxies have a similar structure to streams following descending paths towards a valley. The Great Attractor, acting like a large basin, is thought to pull clusters towards it as it is slightly denser in matter.
Laniakea is about 500 million light years across, the analysis revealed, and the Milky Way sits at one of the outermost areas.
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