galaxy filament

{{Short description|Largest structures in the universe, made of galaxies}}

File:Large-scale structure of light distribution in the universe.jpg

{{Physical cosmology|expanded=comp/struct}}

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 ({{convert|50|to|80|Mpc|Mly|disp=out|abbr=off}})—with the largest found to date being the Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall at around {{convert|3|Gpc|Gly}} in length—and form the boundaries between voids.{{cite journal | last1 = Bharadwaj | first1 = Somnath | author-link = Somnath Bharadwaj | last2 = Bhavsar | first2 = Suketu | last3 = Sheth | first3 = Jatush V | date = 2004 | title = The Size of the Longest Filaments in the Universe | journal = Astrophys J | volume = 606 | issue = 1| pages = 25–31 | doi=10.1086/382140|arxiv = astro-ph/0311342 |bibcode = 2004ApJ...606...25B | s2cid = 10473973 }} 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.{{Cite web |last=Siegel |first=Ethan |title=Our Home Supercluster, Laniakea, Is Dissolving Before Our Eyes |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2020/02/04/our-home-supercluster-laniakea-is-dissolving-before-our-eyes/ |access-date=2023-11-13 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

Galaxy filaments form the cosmic web and define the overall structure of the observable universe.{{Cite web |title=Cosmic Web |url=https://universe.nasa.gov/resources/89/cosmic-web |access-date=2023-06-06 |website=NASA Universe Exploration |language=en |archive-date=2023-03-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327065720/https://universe.nasa.gov/resources/89/cosmic-web/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite journal |last1=Komberg |first1=B. V. |last2=Kravtsov |first2=A. V. |last3=Lukash |first3=V. N. |date=October 1996 |title=The search for and investigation of large quasar groups |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |language=en |volume=282 |issue=3 |pages=713–722 |arxiv=astro-ph/9602090 |bibcode=1996MNRAS.282..713K |doi=10.1093/mnras/282.3.713 |doi-access=free |issn=0035-8711}}{{Cite journal |last=Clowes |first=R. G. |date=2001 |title=Large Quasar Groups - A Short Review. |journal=Astronomical Society of the Pacific |volume=232 |pages=108 |bibcode=2001ASPC..232..108C |isbn=1-58381-065-X}}

Discovery

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,{{Cite journal |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/246/4932/897 |title=M. J. Geller & J. P. Huchra, Science 246, 897 (1989). |journal=Science |date=17 November 1989 |volume=246 |issue=4932 |pages=897–903 |doi=10.1126/science.246.4932.897 |access-date=2009-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621082540/http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/246/4932/897 |archive-date=2008-06-21 |url-status=live |last1=Huchra |first1=John P. |last2=Geller |first2=Margaret J. |pmid=17812575 |s2cid=31328798 |url-access=subscription }} followed by the Sloan Great Wall in 2003.Sky and Telescope, [http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3308301.html?page=1&c=y "Refining the Cosmic Recipe"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309153138/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3308301.html?page=1&c=y |date=2012-03-09 }}, 14 November 2003

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.{{cite web | last = Wall | first = Mike | url = https://www.foxnews.com/science/largest-structure-in-universe-discovered/ | title = Largest structure in universe discovered | date = 2013-01-11 | publisher = Fox News | access-date = 2013-01-12 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130112015836/http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/01/11/largest-structure-in-universe-discovered/ | archive-date = 2013-01-12 | url-status = live }} 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.{{cite journal | arxiv=1401.0533 | bibcode=2014A&A...561L..12H | title=Possible structure in the GRB sky distribution at redshift two | last1=Horvath | first1=Istvan | last2=Hakkila | first2=Jon | last3=Bagoly | first3=Zsolt | journal=Astronomy & Astrophysics | date=2014 | volume=561 | pages=id.L12 | doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201323020 | s2cid=24224684 }}{{cite journal|last1 = Horvath |first1=I. |title = The largest structure of the Universe, defined by Gamma-Ray Bursts|journal =7th Huntsville Gamma-Ray Burst Symposium, GRB 2013: Paper 33 in EConf Proceedings C1304143 |volume = 1311|pages = 1104|date = 2013|arxiv=1311.1104|bibcode = 2013arXiv1311.1104H|last2 = Hakkila|first2 = J.|last3 = Bagoly|first3 = Z.}}{{cite web | last = Klotz | first = Irene | url = https://www.space.com/23754-universe-largest-structure-cosmic-conundrum.html | title = Universe's Largest Structure is a Cosmic Conundrum | date = 2013-11-19 | publisher = discovery | access-date = 2013-11-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131130010953/http://www.space.com/23754-universe-largest-structure-cosmic-conundrum.html | archive-date = 2013-11-30 | url-status = live }}

Filaments

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

class="wikitable"

|+ Filaments of Galaxies

Filament

! Date

! Mean distance

! Dimension

! Notes

Coma Filament

|

|

|

| The Coma Supercluster lies within the Coma Filament.{{Cite journal |last=Fontanelli |first=P. |year=1983 |title=Clustering in the Universe: A filament of galaxies in the Coma/A1367 supercluster |journal=Astronomy and Astrophysics |volume=138 |pages=85–92 |bibcode=1984A&A...138...85F |issn=0004-6361}} It forms part of the CfA2 Great Wall.{{Cite journal |last1=Gavazzi |first1=Giuseppe |last2=Catinella |first2=Barbara |last3=Carrasco |first3=Luis |last4=Boselli |first4=Alessandro |last5=Contursi |first5=Alessandra |display-authors=3 |date=May 1998 |title=The Star Formation Properties of Disk Galaxies: Hα Imaging of Galaxies in the Coma Supercluster |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=115 |issue=5 |pages=1745–1777 |arxiv=astro-ph/9801279 |bibcode=1998AJ....115.1745G |doi=10.1086/300314}}

Perseus–Pegasus Filament

| 1985

|

|

| Connected to the Pisces–Cetus Supercluster, with the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster being a member of the filament.{{Cite journal |last1=Batuski |first1=D. J. |last2=Burns |first2=J. O. |date=December 1985 |title=A possible 300 megaparsec filament of clusters of galaxies in Perseus-Pegasus |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |language=en |volume=299 |pages=5 |bibcode=1985ApJ...299....5B |doi=10.1086/163677 |issn=0004-637X}}

Ursa Major Filament

|

|

|

| Connected to the CfA Homunculus, a portion of the filament forms a portion of the "leg" of the Homunculus.

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.{{Cite journal |last1=Takeuchi |first1=Tsutomu T. |last2=Tomita |first2=Akihiko |last3=Nakanishi |first3=Kouichiro |last4=Ishii |first4=Takako T. |last5=Iwata |first5=Ikuru |last6=Saitō |first6=Mamoru |date=April 1999 |title=Photometric Properties of Kiso Ultraviolet-Excess Galaxies in the Lynx–Ursa Major Region |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series |language=en |volume=121 |issue=2 |pages=445–472 |arxiv=astro-ph/9810161 |bibcode=1999ApJS..121..445T |doi=10.1086/313203 |issn=0067-0049}}

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.NASA, [http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/0107filament.html GIANT GALAXY STRING DEFIES MODELS OF HOW UNIVERSE EVOLVED] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080806065748/http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2004/0107filament.html |date=2008-08-06 }}, January 7, 2004{{cite journal | doi = 10.1086/381145 | bibcode=2004ApJ...602..545P | volume=602 | issue=2 | title=The Distribution of Lyα-Emitting Galaxies at z = 2.38 | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | pages=545–554|arxiv = astro-ph/0311279 | last1=Palunas | first1=Povilas | last2=Teplitz | first2=Harry I. | last3=Francis | first3=Paul J. | last4=Williger | first4=Gerard M. | last5=Woodgate | first5=Bruce E. | year=2004 | s2cid=990891 }}{{cite journal | doi = 10.1086/423417 | bibcode=2004ApJ...614...75F | volume=614 | issue=1 | title=The Distribution of Lyα-emitting Galaxies at z =2.38. II. Spectroscopy | journal=The Astrophysical Journal | pages=75–83|arxiv = astro-ph/0406413 | year=2004 | last1=Francis | first1=Paul J. | last2=Palunas | first2=Povilas | last3=Teplitz | first3=Harry I. | last4=Williger | first4=Gerard M. | last5=Woodgate | first5=Bruce E. | s2cid=118037575 }}{{Cite journal |last=Williger |first=G.M. |last2=Colbert |first2=J. |last3=Teplitz |first3=H.I. |last4=Francis |first4=P.J. |last5=Palunas |first5=P. |last6=Woodgate |first6=B.E. |display-authors=3 |date=2008 |editor-last=Aschenbach |editor-first=B. |title=Ultraviolet-Bright, High-Redshift ULIRGS |journal=Relativistic Astrophysics Legacy and Cosmology - Einstein's Legacy |language=en |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg |pages=358–362 |bibcode=2007ralc.conf..358W |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-74713-0_83 |isbn=978-3-540-74712-3 |editor-last2=Burwitz |editor-first2=V. |editor-last3=Hasinger |editor-first3=G. |editor-last4=Leibundgut |editor-first4=B.}}

  • 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.{{cite journal | last1 = Zitrin | first1 = A. | last2 = Brosch | first2 = N. | year = 2008 | title = The NGC 672 and 784 galaxy groups: evidence for galaxy formation and growth along a nearby dark matter filament | journal = Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | volume = 390 | issue = 1| pages = 408–420 | doi=10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13786.x | doi-access = free | bibcode=2008MNRAS.390..408Z|arxiv = 0808.1789 | s2cid = 16296617 }} 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.{{cite journal | last1 = McQuinn | first1 = K.B.W. |display-authors=etal | year = 2014 | title = Distance Determinations to SHIELD Galaxies from Hubble Space Telescope Imaging | journal = The Astrophysical Journal | volume = 785 | issue = 1| page = 3 | doi=10.1088/0004-637x/785/1/3 | bibcode=2014ApJ...785....3M|arxiv = 1402.3723 | s2cid = 118465292 }}

=Galaxy walls=

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

class="wikitable"

|+ 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.Scientific American, vol. 280, no. 6, pp. 30–37 {{cite web |url= http://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/~zirbel/ast21/sciam/MappingUniverse.pdf |title= Mapping the Universe |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080704115259/http://cosmos.phy.tufts.edu/%7Ezirbel/ast21/sciam/MappingUniverse.pdf |archive-date= 2008-07-04 }} {{small|(1.43 MB)}} 06/1999 {{bibcode|1999SciAm.280f..30L}}

Sloan Great Wall (SDSS Great Wall)

| 2003

| z=0.07804

| 433 Mpc long

| This was the largest known galaxy filament to be discovered,Chin. J. Astron. Astrophys. Vol. 6 (2006), No. 1, 35–42 {{cite web |url= http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1009-9271/6/1/004/chjaa_6_1_004.pdf |title= Super-Large-Scale Structures in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey |access-date= 2008-08-02 |archive-date= 2013-06-10 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130610110617/http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1009-9271/6/1/004/chjaa_6_1_004.pdf |url-status= live }} 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.{{Cite journal |last1=Fairall |first1=A. P. |last2=Paverd |first2=W. R. |last3=Ashley |first3=R. P. |date=1994 |title=Unveiling large-scale structures behind the Milky Way: Visualization of Nearby Large-Scale Structures |journal=Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series |volume=67 |pages=21 |bibcode=1994ASPC...67...21F}}

Grus Wall

|

|

|

| The Grus Wall is "perpendicular" to the Fornax and Sculptor Walls.{{Cite journal |last=Fairall |first=A. P. |date=August 1995 |title=Large-scale structures in the distribution of galaxies |journal=Astrophysics and Space Science |language=en |volume=230 |issue=1–2 |pages=225–235 |bibcode=1995Ap&SS.230..225F |doi=10.1007/BF00658183 |issn=0004-640X}}

Fornax Wall

|

|

|

| The Fornax Cluster is part of this wall. The wall is "parallel" to the Sculptor Wall and "perpendicular" to the Grus Wall.

Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall

| 2013

| z≈2

| 3 Gpc long,
150 000 km/s deep
(in redshift space)

| The largest known structure in the universe. 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.

  • A "Centaurus Great Wall" (or "Fornax Great Wall" or "Virgo Great Wall") has been proposed, which would include the Fornax Wall as a portion of it (visually created by the Zone of Avoidance) along with the Centaurus Supercluster and the Virgo Supercluster, also known as the Local Supercluster, within which the Milky Way galaxy is located (implying this to be the Local Great Wall).
  • A wall was proposed to be the physical embodiment of the Great Attractor, with the Norma Cluster as part of it. It is sometimes referred to as the Great Attractor Wall or Norma Wall.World Science, [http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/exclusives-nfrm/060419_attractor.htm Wall of galaxies tugs on ours, astronomers find] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071028183148/http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/exclusives-nfrm/060419_attractor.htm |date=2007-10-28 }} April 19, 2006 This suggestion was superseded by the proposal of a supercluster, Laniakea, that would encompass the Great Attractor, Virgo Supercluster, Hydra–Centaurus Superclusters.{{cite journal |title= The Laniakea supercluster of galaxies |date= 2 September 2014 |publication-date= 4 September 2014 |journal= Nature |volume= 513 |issue= 7516 |pages= 71–73 |bibcode= 2014Natur.513...71T |arxiv= 1409.0880 |doi= 10.1038/nature13674 |last1=Tully |first1=R. Brent |last2= Courtois |first2=Hélène |last3= Hoffman |first3=Yehuda |last4= Pomarède |first4=Daniel |pmid=25186900|s2cid= 205240232 }}
  • A wall was proposed in 2000 to lie at z=1.47 in the vicinity of radio galaxy B3 0003+387.{{Cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=D. |last2=Aftreth |first2=O. |last3=Soifer |first3=B. T. |date=November 2000 |title=B3 0003+387: AGN-Marked Large-Scale Structure at Redshift 1.47? |journal=The Astronomical Journal |volume=120 |issue=5 |pages=2331–2337 |bibcode=2000AJ....120.2331T |doi=10.1086/316827|arxiv=astro-ph/0008030 }}
  • A wall was proposed in 2000 to lie at z=0.559 in the northern Hubble Deep Field (HDF North).FermiLab, [http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160523180805/http://www.spaceref.ca/news/viewpr.html?pid=634 "Astronomers Find Wall of Galaxies Traversing the Hubble Deep Field"], DARPA, Monday, January 24, 2000{{cite journal | doi = 10.1086/301404 | bibcode=2000AJ....119.2571V | volume=119 | issue=6 | title=QSO[CLC]s[/CLC] and Absorption-Line Systems surrounding the Hubble Deep Field | journal=The Astronomical Journal | pages=2571–2582|arxiv = astro-ph/0003203 | year=2000 | last1=Vanden Berk | first1=Daniel E. | last2=Stoughton | first2=Chris | last3=Crotts | first3=Arlin P. S. | last4=Tytler | first4=David | last5=Kirkman | first5=David | s2cid=117882449 }}

==Map of nearest galaxy walls==

=Large Quasar Groups=

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

class="wikitable"

|+ Large Quasar Groups

LQG

! Date

! Mean distance

! Dimension

! Notes

Clowes–Campusano LQG
(U1.28, CCLQG)

| 1991

| z=1.28

|

  • {{nowrap|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

|

  • {{nowrap|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

|

  • {{nowrap|characteristic size: 500 Mpc }}
  • {{nowrap|longest dimension: 1.24 Gpc }}

| It was the largest structure known in the universe,{{Cite web |title=Biggest structure in universe: Large quasar group is 4 billion light years across |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130111092539.htm |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last1=Clowes |first1=Roger G. |last2=Harris |first2=Kathryn A. |last3=Raghunathan |first3=Srinivasan |last4=Campusano |first4=Luis E. |last5=Söchting |first5=Ilona K. |last6=Graham |first6=Matthew J. |date=March 2013 |title=A structure in the early Universe at z ∼ 1.3 that exceeds the homogeneity scale of the R-W concordance cosmology |journal=Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |language=en |volume=429 |issue=4 |pages=2910–2916 |arxiv=1211.6256 |doi=10.1093/mnras/sts497 |doi-access=free |issn=1365-2966}} until the discovery of the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall found one year later.

=Supercluster complex=

Maps of large-scale distribution

File:Superclusters atlasoftheuniverse.gif|The universe within 1 billion light-years (307 Mpc) of Earth, showing local superclusters forming filaments and voids

File:Nearsc.gif|Map of nearest walls, voids and superclusters

File:2dfdtfe.gif|2dF survey map, containing the SDSS Great Wall

File:2MASS LSS chart-NEW Nasa.jpg|2MASS XSC infrared sky map

File:MeerKAT Galactic filaments.jpg|A mosaic MeerKAT image of the Galactic Center at 20 cm with a 4'' resolution.{{cite journal |last1=Yusef-Zadeh |first1=F. |last2=Arendt |first2=R. G. |last3=Wardle |first3=M. |last4=Heywood |first4=I. |title=The Population of the Galactic Center Filaments: Position Angle Distribution Reveals a Degree-scale Collimated Outflow from Sgr A* along the Galactic Plane |journal=The Astrophysical Journal Letters |date=1 June 2023 |volume=949 |issue=2 |pages=L31 |doi=10.3847/2041-8213/acd54b |arxiv=2306.01071 |bibcode=2023ApJ...949L..31Y |s2cid=259046030 |issn=2041-8205 |doi-access=free }}

See also

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite journal |last=Pimbblet |first=Kevin A. |date=2005 |title=Pulling Out Threads from the Cosmic Tapestry: Defining Filaments of Galaxies |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia |language=en |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=136–143 |arxiv=astro-ph/0503286 |doi=10.1071/AS05006 |bibcode=2005PASA...22..136P |issn=1323-3580}}