NEW DISCOVERY CHALLENGES THE NOTION OF OUR UNIVERSE AS WE KNOW IT

We all know that our galaxy is a tiny portion of the universe and that our planet is a part of the Milky Way. However, a multinational group of scientists led by astronomers from the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy is forcing us to reconsider the potential size of that universe.

Their analysis of 56,000 galaxies' motions has shown that our neighbourhood is far bigger than we first believed. Ten years ago, the Cosmicflows team had already established that the Milky Way is located in the Laniākea basin. This enormous basin is 500 million light-years across and is known in Hawaiian as "immense heaven. "However, the new research shows that there is a strong possibility that we are located in a much larger structure that could be up to 10 times bigger.

They think that the Shapley concentration, a region with an amazing amount of mass and gravitational pull, is the centre of the Milky Way.

One of the study's principal investigators, astronomer R. Brent Tully of the University of Hawaii, explains, "Our universe is like a giant web, with galaxies lying along filaments and clustering at nodes where gravitational forces pull them together." Galaxies flow within cosmic basins of attraction, much like water does within watersheds. Our knowledge of cosmic structure may be drastically altered if these larger basins are discovered.

Astronomers' current models for tracing the origins of our universe 13 billion years ago are drastically altered if the Milky Way is indeed housed inside this much larger structure.

Co-author and astronomer Ehsan Kourkchi of the University of Hawaii says, "This discovery presents a challenge: our cosmic surveys may not yet be large enough to map the full extent of these immense basins." "Even though we are still looking through enormous eyes, it's possible that they won't be able to fully comprehend our universe."However, how can astronomers ascertain the existence of these massive formations, known as basins of attraction? They observe how galaxies move. Any galaxy that finds itself sandwiched between two sizable basins will be subject to a gravitational tug-of-war that will significantly affect its motion. By analyzing the velocity of nearby galaxies, the team was able to pinpoint the location of these superstructures.

As they continue on their journey to map the cosmos, they hope to demonstrate that our universe is more expansive and interconnected than we could ever imagine.