Massive Cosmic Filaments Unveiled, Spanning Hundreds of Millions of Light Years
Astronomers have identified tendrils of galaxies stretching hundreds of millions of light years as the largest spinning objects known in the universe. This remarkable discovery was made while mapping the motion of cosmic filaments—vast bridges of galaxies and dark matter that interconnect the universe and direct galaxies toward larger clusters at their ends.
These filaments originated from the gas that formed shortly after the Big Bang, approximately 13.8 billion years ago. Over time, this gas collapsed to create colossal sheets, which eventually fragmented into the massive cosmic web’s filaments.
Among the most significant of these structures is the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, estimated to span about 10 billion light years and containing billions of galaxies. According to Noam Libeskind, an astronomer at the Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), these filaments resemble thin cylinders comparable to pencils—remarkably long yet just a few million light years in diameter.
He explained that the galaxies within these filaments are akin to mere specs of dust. They follow helix or corkscrew-like orbits as they rotate around the filament’s center while also moving along its length. This unprecedented rotational behavior on such a grand scale suggests the existence of an unknown physical mechanism that is responsible for imparting torque to these colossal structures.