Laniakea Supercluster

For other uses, see Laniakea.
Laniakea Supercluster
A map of the Laniakea Supercluster and its component galaxy clusters
Observation data (Epoch J2000)
Constellation(s)Triangulum Australe and Norma
(Great Attractor)
Right ascension10h 32m
Declination−46° 00′
Number of galaxies100,000–150,000
Parent structurePisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex
Major axis520 million ly (159 Mpc) h−1
67.80 ± 0.77
(H0 from Planck 2013)
Redshift0.0708 (center)
Distance250 million ly (77 Mpc) h−1
67.80 ± 0.077
(Great Attractor)
(H0 from Planck 2013)
Binding mass1×1017[1] M☉
Other designations
Local Supercluster, Laniakea, Laniakea Supercluster, Laniakea Complex

The Laniakea Supercluster (/ˌlɑːni.əˈkeɪ.ə/; Hawaiian for "open skies" or "immense heaven")[2] or the Local Supercluster (LSC or LS) is the galaxy supercluster that is home to the Milky Way and approximately 100,000 other nearby galaxies.

It was defined in September 2014, when a group of astronomers including R. Brent Tully of the University of Hawaiʻi, Hélène Courtois of the University of Lyon, Yehuda Hoffman of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Daniel Pomarède of CEA Université Paris-Saclay published a new way of defining superclusters according to the relative velocities of galaxies.[3][4] The new definition of the local supercluster subsumes the prior defined Virgo and Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster as appendages, the former being the prior defined local supercluster.[5][6][7][8][9]

Follow-up studies suggest that the Laniakea Supercluster is not gravitationally bound. It will disperse rather than continue to maintain itself as an overdensity relative to surrounding areas.[10]

  1. ^ "The Milky Way's 'City' Just Got a New Name". Bloomberg.com. CityLab. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  2. ^ Taylor, Charles (2014). Science Encyclopedia. Kingfisher.
  3. ^ Tully, R. Brent; Courtois, Hélène; Hoffman, Yehuda; Pomarède, Daniel (Sep 2014). "The Laniakea supercluster of galaxies". Nature. 513 (7516): 71–73. arXiv:1409.0880. Bibcode:2014Natur.513...71T. doi:10.1038/nature13674. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 25186900. S2CID 205240232.
  4. ^ Tempel, Elmo (2014-09-01). "Cosmology: Meet the Laniakea supercluster". Nature. 513 (7516): 41–42. Bibcode:2014Natur.513...41T. doi:10.1038/513041a. PMID 25186896.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference NRAO-2014-09-03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reuters-2014-09-03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nature-2014-09-03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT-20140903 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference SandT-2014-09-03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Chon, Gayoung; Böhringer, Hans; Zaroubi, Saleem (2015). "On the definition of superclusters". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 575: L14. arXiv:1502.04584. Bibcode:2015A&A...575L..14C. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201425591. S2CID 119195010.