A Stunning New Map Reveals For The First Time Where Our Galaxy Fits Into The Universe

A Stunning New Map Reveals For The First Time Where Our Galaxy Fits Into The Universe

Even our galaxy is a mere speck in a larger structure, which was just revealed for the first time by a group of scientists who created a map of more than 8,000 galaxies in an effort to understand where they fit in the universe.

The team placed the Milky Way on the outskirts of a massive, previously unknown galaxy supercluster scientists have named Laniakea, from the Hawaiian words for "immeasurable heaven."

The technique enables astronomers for the first time to clearly delineate where one supercluster of galaxies ends and another begins.

The new maps show that the Milky Way galaxy, along with the Virgo cluster and some 100,000 other galaxies, is gravitationally sailing in the same gigantic cosmic pool, named Laniakea.

Most galaxies are pulled toward the heart of a supercluster, a dense center called the great attractor. In Laniakea, even though our galaxy is far, far away on the edge of the system, we're still being pulled by the great attractor's gravity.

The supercluster spans some 520 million light-years in diameter. One light-year is the distance that light, which moves at about 186,000 miles per second (300,000 km/s), travels in one year, or roughly 5.88 trillion miles (9.46 trillion km).

Not much new but truly amazing how big the cluster is from previous thought! I am always amazed how it seems the rate we are making discoveries of our universe(s) is picking up steam each couple of years. Imagine the mapping of the universe that will be available in just a few years.

"We haven’t seen the edges of our neighbors, and we haven’t seen far enough to understand what’s causing this full motion of our galaxy,” Tully said in an interview.

Yes, this is truly the interesting part. What exactly is this "great attractor" that is pulling everything in. We do know super massive blackholes exist at the center of galaxies, even our own, which produces the swirl and inward pull. However, one to pull in hundreds or thousands of galaxies themselves is not super massive, it's super massive to the xth degree! So it makes me wonder, would it be a blackhole at all? I wonder if these are the "bruises" that multi-verse theorists are looking for or even possible the adjoining of one dimension with that of another? Of course, it could be one overly massive black hole or some dark energy we are yet to discover. Yet, it makes you wonder!

And in the vastness the Laniakea Supercluster is infinitesimally tiny. I don't know if all that space was created for one species, there has to be other life out there. The clusters look organic, I know how parts of the planet and the universe resemble biological material, I wonder if they resemble any anatomical features...

Beautiful,

reminds me of brain circuity

www.mbfbioscience.com...

a reply to: Yeahkeepwatchingme

Reminds me of a lilly flower and associated parts.

I am not surprised though, as above so below and all that.

Cheers!

a reply to: Stormdancer777

I thought that also.
Maybe the universe is my brain!!

It always amazes me on how big it all is..mind blown OP cheers.

I often think when I see those kinda pictures of the galaxy and space, that we live on a nervethread. Our solarsystem is part of a atom that lives in a atom that lives in a atom that lives in a cell that lives in a cell etc etc on that nerve thread.

We live in some sort of living creature that is dying, that is why we cant find life on other planets that easy. Maybe a the cell we live in, we can call it a galaxy, dies when all of its atom (solar system) dies.

You can spin this thought on and on and on andcome up with pretty interresting theories, of course, this is not anything new to you guys, but, if you really think about it, like real hard, and make connections to fractals, the infinitive of repeting patterns its not "so" hard to imagine.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Stormdancer777

I thought that also.
Maybe the universe is my brain!!

It always amazes me on how big it all is..mind blown OP cheers.

maybe we are in the universes brain, but yes I hear ya.

a reply to: Nettlas

absolutely, wonderful observing the observer, isn't it?

a reply to: Stormdancer777

It sure is, it is pretty mind blowing and "far out there"- kinda stuff, and yet, it seems so simple and obvious that yeah, why not?

originally posted by: Stormdancer777
Beautiful,

reminds me of brain circuity

www.mbfbioscience.com...

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Stormdancer777

I thought that also.
Maybe the universe is my brain!!

It always amazes me on how big it all is..mind blown OP cheers.

It does resemble that. And yes, the vastness leaves one speechless. One day, all these theories will be resolved, one universe, multiverse, simulation, and all that. Brain circuity makes me wonder about the simulation...

maybe Michelangelo knew something extremely esoteric after all.

I honestly think the universe is too complex for the human mind to understand at the current level of consciousness. We either need advanced super quantum computers or true enlightenment.

Fascinating nonetheless that our galaxy is that large of a cluster, at the edge no matter, when our solar system is at the edge of our galaxy..hmm?

SnF!

Here's one that shows how truly important we are to the Universe! lol



Peace

a reply to: AllSourceIntel

Wow!! It's really bizarre how the universe resembles neurons and brain activity..

The comparisons are pretty wild!

a reply to: jude11

That video reminded me of the Scale of the Universe site that allows you to zoom in/out on the size of things on the universe. Great tool. Great video, thank you.

OP and Allsource, thanks for the mind blow LOL
who knows what else is out there....
And the fundies say it was ALL created for us...
*SMH*

And people are so self centered to literally believe we are the only beings in this whole place?

Wtf go win the lottery already.. The chances of us being alone in these billions on billions of galaxies are way way better than you winning the lottery..

is it just me, or does our supercluster look like a giant heart? anatomically correct, not the cartoon version.

The Laniakea supercluster in the first picture resembles a heart to me. We are in the heart chakra relative to the universe's metaphysical structure.

Just makes me realize how amazing life is here on planet Earth. How lucky we are for whatever reason we are here. Life and everything living on this planet is awesome! It also makes me realize how fragile it really is and what if there truly is nothing out there, that all humans really have and will ever have is this one earth and each other. THAT is the scariest thought! We are pissing it all away!

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

As above so below

It doesn't appear to be spiraling, as if an extra super massive BH was at the center. This is a mindflop, and totally awesome.

Thanks for the upload, even though, i now won't be able to sleep tonight. Truly amazing...