Moons, planets, stars and even galaxies rotate, but they are all dwarfed in scale by the most gigantic spinning structure ever detected in the universe, astonishing astronomers.
Measuring 50 million light years from end to end and containing more than 280 galaxies, a “cosmic filament” — a strand of galaxies that forms part of the universe’s fundamental web-like structure — is spinning at almost 250,000mph, a study has found.
The filament occupies a broadly cylindrical patch of space that is spinning along its central axis.
Galaxies within the strand are also spinning, causing astronomers to speculate that these structures may derive their motion from the rotation of the giant galactic neighbourhoods they sit within. The same rolling effect may also help the galaxies to form.
Dr Lyla Jung, from the Department of Physics at the University of Oxford, co-lead author of the study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “What makes this structure exceptional is not just its size but the combination of spin alignment and rotational motion.
“You can liken it to a ‘teacups’ ride at a theme park. Each galaxy is like a spinning teacup, but the whole platform — the cosmic filament — is rotating too.
“This dual motion gives us rare insight into how galaxies gain their spin from the larger structures they live in.”
The discovery was made using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope, an array of 64 interlinked dishes.
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Galaxies are generally found grouped in clusters and, in turn, superclusters. Zooming out even further reveals the superclusters themselves are arranged into web-like filaments that stretch across the universe to form a colossal network.
Researchers said: “Cosmic filaments are the largest known structures in the universe — vast, thread-like formations of galaxies and dark matter that form a cosmic scaffolding. They also act as ‘highways’ along which matter and momentum flow into galaxies.”
The 50 million light year length of the filament is difficult to equate with anything recognisable as its scale is so vast.
One light year is about 5.7 trillion miles, or some 2,000 times the distance between the sun and Neptune, our solar system’s outermost planet. The length of the filament is therefore about 100 billion times the distance from the sun to Neptune.
The disc of the Milky Way is about 100,000 light years from edge to edge, making the length of the filament 500 times the width of our galaxy.
The Apollo 11 mission that took Neil Armstrong to the moon reached a top speed of about 25,000mph. At that rate it would take 1.3 trillion years to travel the filament’s full length.
It is thought that the newly-detected cosmic filament is relatively young. The spinning motion of such filaments may help to “funnel” matter into juvenile, growing galaxies.
“Because atomic hydrogen is more easily disturbed by motion, its presence helps reveal how gas is funnelled through filaments into [young] galaxies, offering clues about how angular momentum flows through the cosmic web to influence galaxy morphology, spin and star formation,” researchers said.