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Galaxy filament

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Galaxy filaments, walls and voids form web-like structures. Computer simulation.
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In cosmology, galaxy filaments are the largest known structures in the universe, consisting of walls of galactic superclusters. These massive, thread-like formations can commonly reach 50 to 80 megaparsecs (160 to 260 megalight-years)—with the largest found to date being the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall at around 3 gigaparsecs (9.8 Gly) in length—and form the boundaries between voids.[1] Due to the accelerating expansion of the universe, the individual clusters of gravitationally bound galaxies that make up galaxy filaments are moving away from each other at an accelerated rate; in the far future they will dissolve.[2]

Galaxy filaments form the cosmic web and define the overall structure of the observable universe.[3][4][5]

Discovery

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Discovery of structures larger than superclusters began in the late 1980s. In 1987, astronomer R. Brent Tully of the University of Hawaii's Institute of Astronomy identified what he called the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex. The CfA2 Great Wall was discovered in 1989,[6] followed by the Sloan Great Wall in 2003.[7]

In January 2013, researchers led by Roger Clowes of the University of Central Lancashire announced the discovery of a large quasar group, the Huge-LQG, which dwarfs previously discovered galaxy filaments in size.[8] In November 2013, using gamma-ray bursts as reference points, astronomers discovered the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, an extremely large filament measuring more than 10 billion light-years across.[9][10][11]

Filaments

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The filament subtype of filaments have roughly similar major and minor axes in cross-section, along the lengthwise axis.

Filaments of Galaxies
Filament Date Mean distance Dimension Notes
Coma Filament The Coma Supercluster lies within the Coma Filament.[12] It forms part of the CfA2 Great Wall.[13]
Perseus–Pegasus Filament 1985 Connected to the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster, with the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster being a member of the filament.[14]
Ursa Major Filament Connected to the CfA Homunculus, a portion of the filament forms a portion of the "leg" of the Homunculus.[15]
Lynx–Ursa Major Filament (LUM Filament) 1999 from 2000 km/s to 8000 km/s in redshift space Connected to and separate from the Lynx–Ursa Major Supercluster.[15]
z=2.38 filament around protocluster ClG J2143-4423 2004 z=2.38 110 Mpc A filament the length of the Great Wall was discovered in 2004. As of 2008, it was still the largest structure beyond redshift 2.[16][17][18][19]
  • A short filament was proposed by Adi Zitrin and Noah Brosch—detected by identifying an alignment of star-forming galaxies—in the neighborhood of the Milky Way and the Local Group.[20] The proposal of this filament, and of a similar but shorter filament, were the result of a study by McQuinn et al. (2014) based on distance measurements using the TRGB method.[21]

Galaxy walls

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The galaxy wall subtype of filaments have a significantly greater major axis than minor axis in cross-section, along the lengthwise axis.

Walls of Galaxies
Wall Date Mean distance Dimension Notes
CfA2 Great Wall (Coma Wall, Great Wall, Northern Great Wall, Great Northern Wall, CfA Great Wall) 1989 z=0.03058 251 Mpc long: 750 Mly long
250 Mly wide
20 Mly thick 		This was the first super-large large-scale structure or pseudo-structure in the universe to be discovered. The CfA Homunculus lies at the heart of the Great Wall, and the Coma Supercluster forms most of the homunculus structure. The Coma Cluster lies at the core.[22][23]
Sloan Great Wall (SDSS Great Wall) 2003 z=0.07804 433 Mpc long This was the largest known galaxy filament to be discovered,[22] until it was eclipsed by the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall found ten years later.
Sculptor Wall (Southern Great Wall, Great Southern Wall, Southern Wall) 8000 km/s long
5000 km/s wide
1000 km/s deep (in redshift space dimensions) 		The Sculptor Wall is "parallel" to the Fornax Wall and "perpendicular" to the Grus Wall.[24][25]
Grus Wall The Grus Wall is "perpendicular" to the Fornax and Sculptor Walls.[25]
Fornax Wall The Fornax Cluster is part of this wall. The wall is "parallel" to the Sculptor Wall and "perpendicular" to the Grus Wall.[24][25]
Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall 2013 z≈2[10] 3 Gpc long,[10]
150 000 km/s deep[10]
(in redshift space) 		The largest known structure in the universe.[9][10][11] This is also the first time since 1991 that a galaxy filament/great wall held the record as the largest known structure in the universe.

Map of nearest galaxy walls

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The Universe within 500 million light years, showing the nearest galaxy walls

Large Quasar Groups

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Large quasar groups (LQGs) are some of the largest structures known.[31] They are theorized to be protohyperclusters/proto-supercluster-complexes/galaxy filament precursors.[32]

Large Quasar Groups
LQG Date Mean distance Dimension Notes
Clowes–Campusano LQG
(U1.28, CCLQG) 		1991 z=1.28
  • longest dimension: 630 Mpc
 It was the largest known structure in the universe from 1991 to 2011, until U1.11's discovery.
U1.11 2011 z=1.11
  • longest dimension: 780 Mpc
 Was the largest known structure in the universe for a few months, until Huge-LQG's discovery.
Huge-LQG 2012 z=1.27
  • characteristic size: 500 Mpc
  • longest dimension: 1.24 Gpc
It was the largest structure known in the universe,[31][32] until the discovery of the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall found one year later.[10]

Supercluster complex

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Pisces–Cetus Supercluster Complex

Maps of large-scale distribution

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  • The universe within 1 billion light-years (307 Mpc) of Earth, showing local superclusters forming filaments and voids
    The universe within 1 billion light-years (307 Mpc) of Earth, showing local superclusters forming filaments and voids
  • Map of nearest walls, voids and superclusters
    Map of nearest walls, voids and superclusters
  • 2dF survey map, containing the SDSS Great Wall
    2dF survey map, containing the SDSS Great Wall
  • 2MASS XSC infrared sky map
    2MASS XSC infrared sky map
  • A mosaic MeerKAT image of the Galactic Center at 20 cm with a 4 resolution.[33]
    A mosaic MeerKAT image of the Galactic Center at 20 cm with a 4 resolution.[33]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bharadwaj, Somnath; Bhavsar, Suketu; Sheth, Jatush V (2004). "The Size of the Longest Filaments in the Universe". Astrophys J. 606 (1): 25–31. arXiv:astro-ph/0311342. Bibcode:2004ApJ...606...25B. doi:10.1086/382140. S2CID 10473973.
  2. ^ Siegel, Ethan. "Our Home Supercluster, Laniakea, Is Dissolving Before Our Eyes". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-11-13.
  3. ^ "Cosmic Web". NASA Universe Exploration. Archived from the original on 2023-03-27. Retrieved 2023-06-06.
  4. ^ Komberg, B. V.; Kravtsov, A. V.; Lukash, V. N. (October 1996). "The search for and investigation of large quasar groups". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 282 (3): 713–722. arXiv:astro-ph/9602090. Bibcode:1996MNRAS.282..713K. doi:10.1093/mnras/282.3.713. ISSN 0035-8711.
  5. ^ Clowes, R. G. (2001). "Large Quasar Groups - A Short Review". Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 232: 108. Bibcode:2001ASPC..232..108C. ISBN 1-58381-065-X.
  6. ^ Huchra, John P.; Geller, Margaret J. (17 November 1989). "M. J. Geller & J. P. Huchra, Science 246, 897 (1989)". Science. 246 (4932): 897–903. doi:10.1126/science.246.4932.897. PMID 17812575. S2CID 31328798. Archived from the original on 2008-06-21. Retrieved 2009-09-18.
  7. ^ Sky and Telescope, "Refining the Cosmic Recipe" Archived 2012-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, 14 November 2003
  8. ^ Wall, Mike (2013-01-11). "Largest structure in universe discovered". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2013-01-12. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  9. ^ a b Horvath, Istvan; Hakkila, Jon; Bagoly, Zsolt (2014). "Possible structure in the GRB sky distribution at redshift two". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 561: id.L12. arXiv:1401.0533. Bibcode:2014A&A...561L..12H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201323020. S2CID 24224684.
  10. ^ a b c d e f Horvath I., Hakkila J., and Bagoly Z.; Hakkila, J.; Bagoly, Z. (2013). "The largest structure of the Universe, defined by Gamma-Ray Bursts". 7th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium, GRB 2013: Paper 33 in EConf Proceedings C1304143. 1311: 1104. arXiv:1311.1104. Bibcode:2013arXiv1311.1104H.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ a b Klotz, Irene (2013-11-19). "Universe's Largest Structure is a Cosmic Conundrum". discovery. Archived from the original on 2013-11-30. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  12. ^ Fontanelli, P. (1983). "Clustering in the Universe: A filament of galaxies in the Coma/A1367 supercluster". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 138: 85–92. Bibcode:1984A&A...138...85F. ISSN 0004-6361.
  13. ^ Gavazzi, Giuseppe; Catinella, Barbara; Carrasco, Luis; et al. (May 1998). "The Star Formation Properties of Disk Galaxies: Hα Imaging of Galaxies in the Coma Supercluster". The Astronomical Journal. 115 (5): 1745–1777. arXiv:astro-ph/9801279. Bibcode:1998AJ....115.1745G. doi:10.1086/300314.
  14. ^ Batuski, D. J.; Burns, J. O. (December 1985). "A possible 300 megaparsec filament of clusters of galaxies in Perseus-Pegasus". The Astrophysical Journal. 299: 5. Bibcode:1985ApJ...299....5B. doi:10.1086/163677. ISSN 0004-637X.
  15. ^ a b Takeuchi, Tsutomu T.; Tomita, Akihiko; Nakanishi, Kouichiro; Ishii, Takako T.; Iwata, Ikuru; Saitō, Mamoru (April 1999). "Photometric Properties of Kiso Ultraviolet-Excess Galaxies in the Lynx–Ursa Major Region". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 121 (2): 445–472. arXiv:astro-ph/9810161. Bibcode:1999ApJS..121..445T. doi:10.1086/313203. ISSN 0067-0049.
  16. ^ NASA, GIANT GALAXY STRING DEFIES MODELS OF HOW UNIVERSE EVOLVED Archived 2008-08-06 at the Wayback Machine, January 7, 2004
  17. ^ Palunas, Povilas; Teplitz, Harry I.; Francis, Paul J.; Williger, Gerard M.; Woodgate, Bruce E. (2004). "The Distribution of Lyα-Emitting Galaxies at z = 2.38". The Astrophysical Journal. 602 (2): 545–554. arXiv:astro-ph/0311279. Bibcode:2004ApJ...602..545P. doi:10.1086/381145. S2CID 990891.
  18. ^ Francis, Paul J.; Palunas, Povilas; Teplitz, Harry I.; Williger, Gerard M.; Woodgate, Bruce E. (2004). "The Distribution of Lyα-emitting Galaxies at z =2.38. II. Spectroscopy". The Astrophysical Journal. 614 (1): 75–83. arXiv:astro-ph/0406413. Bibcode:2004ApJ...614...75F. doi:10.1086/423417. S2CID 118037575.
  19. ^ Williger, G.M.; Colbert, J.; Teplitz, H.I.; et al. (2008). Aschenbach, B.; Burwitz, V.; Hasinger, G.; Leibundgut, B. (eds.). "Ultraviolet-Bright, High-Redshift ULIRGS". Relativistic Astrophysics Legacy and Cosmology - Einstein's Legacy. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg: 358–362. Bibcode:2007ralc.conf..358W. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-74713-0_83. ISBN 978-3-540-74712-3.
  20. ^ Zitrin, A.; Brosch, N. (2008). "The NGC 672 and 784 galaxy groups: evidence for galaxy formation and growth along a nearby dark matter filament". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 390 (1): 408–420. arXiv:0808.1789. Bibcode:2008MNRAS.390..408Z. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13786.x. S2CID 16296617.
  21. ^ McQuinn, K.B.W.; et al. (2014). "Distance Determinations to SHIELD Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope Imaging". The Astrophysical Journal. 785 (1): 3. arXiv:1402.3723. Bibcode:2014ApJ...785....3M. doi:10.1088/0004-637x/785/1/3. S2CID 118465292.
  22. ^ a b Chin. J. Astron. Astrophys. Vol. 6 (2006), No. 1, 35–42 "Super-Large-Scale Structures in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-06-10. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
  23. ^ Scientific American, vol. 280, no. 6, pp. 30–37 "Mapping the Universe" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-07-04. (1.43 MB) 06/1999 Bibcode:1999SciAm.280f..30L
  24. ^ a b c Fairall, A. P.; Paverd, W. R.; Ashley, R. P. (1994). "Unveiling large-scale structures behind the Milky Way: Visualization of Nearby Large-Scale Structures". Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series. 67: 21. Bibcode:1994ASPC...67...21F.
  25. ^ a b c d Fairall, A. P. (August 1995). "Large-scale structures in the distribution of galaxies". Astrophysics and Space Science. 230 (1–2): 225–235. Bibcode:1995Ap&SS.230..225F. doi:10.1007/BF00658183. ISSN 0004-640X.
  26. ^ World Science, Wall of galaxies tugs on ours, astronomers find Archived 2007-10-28 at the Wayback Machine April 19, 2006
  27. ^ Tully, R. Brent; Courtois, Hélène; Hoffman, Yehuda; Pomarède, Daniel (2 September 2014). "The Laniakea supercluster of galaxies". Nature. 513 (7516) (published 4 September 2014): 71–73. arXiv:1409.0880. Bibcode:2014Natur.513...71T. doi:10.1038/nature13674. PMID 25186900. S2CID 205240232.
  28. ^ Thompson, D.; Aftreth, O.; Soifer, B. T. (November 2000). "B3 0003+387: AGN-Marked Large-Scale Structure at Redshift 1.47?". The Astronomical Journal. 120 (5): 2331–2337. arXiv:astro-ph/0008030. Bibcode:2000AJ....120.2331T. doi:10.1086/316827.
  29. ^ FermiLab, "Astronomers Find Wall of Galaxies Traversing the Hubble Deep Field", DARPA, Monday, January 24, 2000
  30. ^ Vanden Berk, Daniel E.; Stoughton, Chris; Crotts, Arlin P. S.; Tytler, David; Kirkman, David (2000). "QSO[CLC]s[/CLC] and Absorption-Line Systems surrounding the Hubble Deep Field". The Astronomical Journal. 119 (6): 2571–2582. arXiv:astro-ph/0003203. Bibcode:2000AJ....119.2571V. doi:10.1086/301404. S2CID 117882449.
  31. ^ a b "Biggest structure in universe: Large quasar group is 4 billion light years across". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 2023-09-16.
  32. ^ a b Clowes, Roger G.; Harris, Kathryn A.; Raghunathan, Srinivasan; Campusano, Luis E.; Söchting, Ilona K.; Graham, Matthew J. (March 2013). "A structure in the early Universe at z ∼ 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 429 (4): 2910–2916. arXiv:1211.6256. doi:10.1093/mnras/sts497. ISSN 1365-2966.
  33. ^ Yusef-Zadeh, F.; Arendt, R. G.; Wardle, M.; Heywood, I. (1 June 2023). "The Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: Position Angle Distribution Reveals a Degree-scale Collimated Outflow from Sgr A* along the Galactic Plane". The Astrophysical Journal Letters. 949 (2): L31. arXiv:2306.01071. Bibcode:2023ApJ...949L..31Y. doi:10.3847/2041-8213/acd54b. ISSN 2041-8205. S2CID 259046030.

Further reading

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