The Laniakea Supercluster is a massive cosmic structure that encompasses the Local Group, the Virgo Cluster, and tens of thousands of other galaxies and galaxy clusters. Spanning over 500 million light-years, Laniakea is one of the largest known superclusters in the universe and represents a gravitationally coherent region, meaning that galaxies within it are moving toward a common center of gravity known as the Great Attractor.
The supercluster’s structure was mapped using galaxy velocities and redshift surveys, revealing the flow of galaxies along interconnected filaments and sheets of the cosmic web. Laniakea’s name, meaning “immense heaven” in Hawaiian, reflects its enormous scale and significance in the local universe. The supercluster contains both dense regions, like clusters and filaments, and underdense voids, illustrating the hierarchical organization of cosmic matter.
Studying Laniakea provides insights into the large-scale motion of galaxies, dark matter distribution, and the gravitational landscape of our local universe. It also helps astronomers understand how our Local Group and other galaxies interact within the broader cosmic web over billions of years.
In essence, the Laniakea Supercluster is a colossal network of galaxies and clusters, including the Milky Way, forming a major node in the universe’s large-scale structure and defining the local gravitational environment of our cosmic neighborhood.