Astronomers have observed huge filaments of galaxies bound together by dark matter (scientists believe that dark matter accounts for 85% of the total mass of the universe), extending unfathomable distances.
Some of these behemoth structures have been observed spinning in the same direction, a dizzying and mysterious cosmic dance that stretches tens of millions of light-years and is a tantalizing clue to our efforts to understand how galaxies and ultimately stars form.
Now, an international team of researchers led by the University of Oxford say they have discovered one of the largest rotating structures ever discovered using data from South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope, an array of 64 connected satellite dishes.
As detailed in a study published this month in the journal Royal Astronomical Society monthly noticesthey observed 14 galaxies arranged in an “extremely thin” line, about 5.5 million light-years long and 117,000 light-years wide. The structure lies inside a larger filament that contains 280 other galaxies and is 50 million light-years long.
Many of these hundreds of galaxies appear to be spinning in the same direction as the overall filament itself.
“This is the largest single rotational structure ever detected,” co-lead author Leila Jung, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, told us Reuters. “Statistically, we believe there are other rotating structures, some of which may be larger. However, we have not been able to detect them directly with our current data and telescopes.”
This discovery suggests that these structures have a longer-lasting and stronger influence on the spin of galaxies than previously thought.
“What is unique about this structure is not only its size, but also the combination of spin alignment and rotational motion,” Jung said in a statement about the work.
“You could compare it to a teacup ride at a theme park,” she added. “Each galaxy is like a spinning teacup, but the entire platform—the cosmic filament—is also spinning. This dual motion gives us a rare look at how galaxies get their spin from the larger structures they inhabit.”
The researchers believe the filament is still quite young after discovering it is in a “dynamically cold” state. Galaxies with hydrogen-rich interiors may still be gathering fuel to spit out stars, an interesting glimpse into the earliest stages of galaxy evolution.
“This filament is a fossil record of cosmic flow,” co-lead author Madalina Tudorache, a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Cambridge, said in the statement.
The findings also detail how this gas rotates inside the filament, which could inform future observations by the European Space Agency’s Euclid mission and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile.
“This is a very exciting time for work in this field because our ability to discover such structures is increasing as better radio and optical survey techniques become available,” Tudorach told us. Reuters. “It will deepen our understanding of the universe.”
More information about cosmic filaments: Scientists discover ‘strange filaments’ at the center of the Milky Way