Speaker 1: Welcome to Bedtime Astronomy. Explore the wonders of the cosmos
Speaker 1: with our soothing Bedtime Astronomy podcast. Each episode offers a
Speaker 1: gentle journey through the stars, planets, and beyond, perfect for
Speaker 1: unwinding after a long day. Let's travel through the mysteries
Speaker 1: of the universe as you drift off into a peaceful
Speaker 1: slumber under the night sky Beyond Lania ka unveiling the
Speaker 1: Milky Way's place in a greater cosmic web. The Milky Way,
Speaker 1: the galaxy we call home, is more than just a
Speaker 1: swirling collection of stars, gas, and dust. It is part
Speaker 1: of a much grander cosmic structure. For a long time,
Speaker 1: astronomers believed our galaxy resided in a region known as
Speaker 1: the Lania Kaias Supercluster, a vast network of galaxies stretching
Speaker 1: across thus hundreds of millions of light years. However, recent
Speaker 1: research suggests that Lania KaiA might itself be a smaller
Speaker 1: piece of an even larger structure, potentially opening up new
Speaker 1: dimensions in our understanding of the universe. This newly discovered
Speaker 1: region is known as the Shaply Concentration, a titanic basin
Speaker 1: of attraction that has captured the attention of scientists trying
Speaker 1: to map the true shape and scale of the cosmos.
Speaker 1: If someone were to draw a cosmic address for the Earth,
Speaker 1: they would begin with our planet, which is part of
Speaker 1: the Solar System, nestled within the spiral arms of the
Speaker 1: Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way itself is a member
Speaker 1: of the Local Group, a collection of nearby galaxies, and
Speaker 1: this local group is part of the Virgo Cluster. The
Speaker 1: Virgo Cluster, in turn, was desides within the much larger
Speaker 1: Vergo Supercluster, which is itself a part of the colossal
Speaker 1: Lania Kias Supercluster. It's a bit like nesting dolls, with
Speaker 1: each layer of the universe fitting within a larger one,
Speaker 1: and now astronomers are beginning to believe that Lania KaiA,
Speaker 1: massive as it is, might be part of an even
Speaker 1: larger structure, Bishaply Concentration. The Shaply concentration is a name
Speaker 1: that may not sound familiar to many, but it represents
Speaker 1: a region of space loaded with mass, a gravitational basin
Speaker 1: of attraction that tugs on everything around it, including entire
Speaker 1: clusters of galaxies. Discovered through deep sky surveys, this region
Speaker 1: contains numerous galaxy clusters and groups, all dominated by gravity,
Speaker 1: which attracts both visible galaxy and invisible dark matter. As
Speaker 1: with any massive object, its gravitational pull influences the motions
Speaker 1: of everything in its vicinity. The sheer scale of the
Speaker 1: Shaply concentration places it among the greatest concentrations of matter
Speaker 1: in the known universe. Astronomers are keen to learn more
Speaker 1: about such cosmic basins, and they are working to map
Speaker 1: them with greater precision. By understanding how these enormous gravitational
Speaker 1: regions are distributed, researchers hope to develop a clearer picture
Speaker 1: of the universe's largest structures. One such group of scientists,
Speaker 1: led by our Brent Tully from the University of Hawaii,
Speaker 1: has been at the forefront of this effort. Their work
Speaker 1: has revealed that the universe is far from a random
Speaker 1: scatter of galaxies, and instead it is a vast web
Speaker 1: where galaxies lie along filamentous structures, clustering at nodes where
Speaker 1: gravitational forces pull them together. Tully compares this cosmic arrangement
Speaker 1: to watersheds on Earth, where water flows through basins and valleys. Similarly,
Speaker 1: galaxies move within these cosmic basins of attraction directed by
Speaker 1: gravity toward dense regions of mass like the Shaply concentration.
Speaker 1: Tully's team, called Cosmic Flows, focuses on measuring the motions
Speaker 1: of around fifty six thousand galaxies, studying their trajectories through space.
Speaker 1: Their observations suggest that the cosmic web might be more
Speaker 1: complex and interconnected than previously thought. While we have long
Speaker 1: known that we reside in the Lania KaiOS supercluster, which
Speaker 1: Spain and some five hundred million light years, the motions
Speaker 1: of galaxies in our neighborhood hint at the presence of
Speaker 1: a larger structure pulling everything toward it. This larger structure
Speaker 1: could very well be the Shaply concentration, a massive attractor
Speaker 1: that could be up to ten times the size of
Speaker 1: Lania KaiA. In comparison, Bishaply concentration has roughly half the
Speaker 1: volume of the Great Wall, a massive filament of galaxies
Speaker 1: stretching across one point four billion light years. The largest
Speaker 1: known structure in the universe. Bishaply concentration is no recent discovery.
Speaker 1: It was first observed in the nineteen thirties by the
Speaker 1: renowned astronomer Harlow Shapley, who noticed a peculiar cloud of
Speaker 1: galaxies in the Constellations and Taurus. This cluster of galaxies
Speaker 1: located in the direction of motion of our own local
Speaker 1: group of galaxies, intrigued scientists who began to suspect it
Speaker 1: might be influencing the movement of the Milky Way and
Speaker 1: its neighboring galaxies. This suspicion is supported by recent surveys
Speaker 1: that suggest our entire Verbo supercluster, along with the local
Speaker 1: group and Milky Way, is moving toward the Shaply Concentration.
Speaker 1: The gravitational pull of this distant region is, it seems,
Speaker 1: shaping the cosmic flow in our corner of the universe.
Speaker 1: Astronomers continue to explore this fascinating discovery, using surveys to
Speaker 1: confirm the motion of galaxies toward the Shaply concentration. The
Speaker 1: research conducted by Tully and his colleagues is part of
Speaker 1: a broader effort to explore the ever expanding boundaries of
Speaker 1: the universe and to understand how these massive structures came
Speaker 1: to be. The gravitational forces that define cosmic basins of
Speaker 1: attraction like the Shaply Concentration have been at work since
Speaker 1: the dawn of the Universe. Thirteen point eight billion years ago,
Speaker 1: in the aftermath of the Big Bang, the universe was
Speaker 1: in a state of hot, dense chaos. As it expanded
Speaker 1: and cooled, subtle fluctuations in the density of matter began
Speaker 1: to take shape. These tiny variations would eventually become the
Speaker 1: seeds of galaxies, galaxy clusters, and the vast superclusters that
Speaker 1: we observe today. The cosmic web that Tully and others
Speaker 1: are mapping was woven from these early fluctuations. Over time,
Speaker 1: gravity pulled galaxies together into clusters and superclusters, forming the
Speaker 1: large scale structure of the universe. But Shapley concentration represents
Speaker 1: one of the largest and most significant of these structures,
Speaker 1: and its discovery could fundamentally reshape our understanding of the cosmos.
Speaker 1: Current cosmological models, while successful in many respects, struggle to
Speaker 1: explain the existence of such massive basins of attraction. As ESSM. Corkshee,
Speaker 1: a member of Tully's team, pointed out, our cosmic surveys
Speaker 1: may not yet be large enough to map the full
Speaker 1: extent of these immense basins. In other words, we are
Speaker 1: still peering at the universe through a limited lens, and
Speaker 1: there is much more out there waiting to be discovered.
Speaker 1: The sheer scale of these discoveries is mind boggling. In
Speaker 1: addition to the shaply Concentration, other superclusters, such as the
Speaker 1: Sloane Great Wall, have been revealed by galaxy redshift surveys
Speaker 1: like the two DF Galaxy Redshift Survey. These surveys offer
Speaker 1: a glimpse into the intricate tapestry of the universe's large
Speaker 1: scale structure, revealing enormous walls, filaments, and voids that stretch
Speaker 1: across billions of light years. These are the skeletons of
Speaker 1: the universe, the framework upon which everything else is built,
Speaker 1: and at the heart of it all is gravity, the
Speaker 1: fundamental force that governs the behavior of galaxies, clusters, and
Speaker 1: superclusters alike. Gravity is the engine driving the motion of
Speaker 1: galaxies within cosmic basins of attraction. The more mass a
Speaker 1: region has, the stronger its gravitational pull, and the more
Speaker 1: it influences the motion of galaxies around it. Bishop Concentration,
Speaker 1: with its immense mass, exerts a powerful gravitational force that
Speaker 1: tugs on galaxies far and wide. By studying the motion
Speaker 1: of galaxies, astronomers can map the extent of these basins
Speaker 1: of attraction and determine how they are distributed throughout the universe.
Speaker 1: To do this, Tully and his team rely on a
Speaker 1: variety of measurements, including redshift surveys, which provide information about
Speaker 1: the velocity of galaxies along our line of sight. They
Speaker 1: also measure something called peculiar velocity, which refers to the
Speaker 1: difference between a galaxy's actual velocity and the expected velocity
Speaker 1: based on the expansion of the universe, known as the
Speaker 1: Hubble flow. By combining these measurements, astronomers can build detailed
Speaker 1: three D maps of the universe, charting the position and
Speaker 1: motion of galaxies with incredible precision. These maps are not
Speaker 1: just static images, they are dynamic representations of a universe
Speaker 1: in motion. The galaxies within cosmic basins of attraction are
Speaker 1: constantly moving, drawn together by the inexorable pull of gravity.
Speaker 1: As Tully and as team refine their maps, they are
Speaker 1: uncovering new insights into the distribution of matter in the universe,
Speaker 1: including the elusive dark matter that makes up much of
Speaker 1: the universe's mass. In the coming years, as more advanced
Speaker 1: telescopes and surveys come online, our understanding of these colossal
Speaker 1: structures will continue to grow. The discovery that the Milky
Speaker 1: Way might be part of a larger structure than Lania
Speaker 1: KaiA is just the beginning. As we peer deeper into
Speaker 1: the cosmos, we may find that our universe is more
Speaker 1: interconnected and more complex than we ever imagined. Bishoply concentration
Speaker 1: and other basins of attraction are but pieces of a
Speaker 1: grand cosmic puzzle, and it is up to the astronomers
Speaker 1: of today and tomorrow to fit them together and reveal
Speaker 1: the true shape of the universe we call home before
Speaker 1: any will you to your home, s