TL;DR: Scientists mapped the motions of thousands of galaxies around the milky way to reveal our home on the grand scale: the Laniakea super cluster. For the first time, we are capable of defining the boundaries between these super clusters based on the flows of galaxies, and its awesome! ==== So earth sits in our local solar system, which bundles up with a bunch of other solar systems to form our solar interstellar neighbourhood. Then, we take thousands of those to make our galaxy: the Milky Way. Thats just the start, or hardly a start really, since we then take a bunch of these galaxies to make a local galactic group and then, we use thousands of those groups to make the Virgo super cluster. But wait, theres more. A recent discovery showed that this Virgo super cluster is a part of again thousands of other super clusters, forming a sort of super super cluster. ..and of those super super clusters there are, err, well a lot I imagine.. The thing is, its all connected. Our local planets swing around the sun just like it happens in the other solar systems, they act upon each other. The galaxies are connected too and bundle up in beautiful brain-like webs, and then those clusters are connected again, and again, eventually forming this super super cluster in which you can clearly see its not just all scattered about but instead its forming lines, grouping into something that looks organic, structured in some way. If the scale of all this isnt enough to make your run outside to get some air, then imagine all these stars, planets, galaxies, clusters and super clusters grouping and moving together in a way that wed see in various organisms and in nature, but on a huge scale, across distances I cant even begin to imagine, let alone describe. They shouldve sent a poet. :)
Posted on: Thu, 04 Sep 2014 12:31:01 +0000
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