The largest known rotating structure in the Universe has been discovered in the region of the constellations Leo, Hydra, and Sextans.
According to the Oxford University press service, this is a gigantic “filament” consisting of hundreds of galaxies connected by a filament of dark and visible matter.
The diameter of this structure is approximately 49 million light-years, and scientists have confirmed that it rotates on its axis.
According to university researcher Jeong Soyeon, each galaxy acts as a rotating cup nestled within the larger structure, which also rotates on its axis.
The study was conducted using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
The scientists were initially interested in a segment 117,000 light-years wide, comprising 14 galaxies arranged in a line 5.5 million light-years long. Further analysis revealed that the galaxies rotate in opposite directions, but at similar speeds and along the same axis—the first confirmation of a common rotational structure.
Inspection of adjacent regions confirmed that the entire “strand of the cosmic web” running through this region of the Universe is in a state of rotation.
This discovery is of great importance for understanding the evolution of large-scale cosmic structures, as well as the processes of galaxy formation and development under the influence of such global motions.
Cosmologists believe that the Universe resembles a giant three-dimensional web in its structure, where ordinary matter accumulates at the nodes of the strands, forming galaxy clusters.
This new discovery allows us to better understand how these strands not only connect objects but also act as dynamically active elements influencing the entire structure of the universe.
About the Author
