Clusters and Superclusters of Galaxies

In the same way that stars come together to form greater cosmic structures, galaxies also arrange themselves into Clusters and Superclusters of Galaxies.

These range in size from only a handful of galaxies in a cluster, to a few thousand.

Clusters themselves can also form into clusters, large groups that we call superclusters. These are the largest structures in the universe that we have detected.

Clusters and Superclusters

The average distance between galaxies in a cluster is about 10 galaxy diameters. Meaning that depending on the diameter of a galaxy, the average distance between that galaxy and the next in that cluster, will be about 10x it’s diameter.

On the large-scale structure of space, superclusters are arranged on the surface of great “bubbles” in space — voids with very little matter inside — creating a cosmic honeycomb-like structure in space made of superclusters (and the galaxies and stars within them).

The Local Group

The Local Group is the galaxy cluster that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, is a part of.

Our galaxy cluster is only about 5 million light-years in diameter, and consists of  about 30 individual galaxies (including the Milky Way).

The largest galaxies in the local group are the Andromeda (M31), Triangulum (M33), and the Milky Way, our own galaxy.

The Local Group is actually one single cluster of galaxies, that is part of a great Supercluster that is 100 million light-years in diameter.

Neighboring Clusters

The Virgo Cluster is the nearest cluster to our own Local Group — even though it is about 60 million light years away from our Milky Way galaxy.

Honeycomb Space

Superclusters tend to be flattened into discs, sheets, or long filaments in space. The exact dynamics and mechanism behind this is not exactly known, but is suspected to involve cosmic-scale gravitational forces like supermassive black holes.

We cannot see these structures with our eyes from Earth, because they exist on such a massive scale. 3D computer modelling has allowed the universe to be mapped to a degree, which has revealed that the large-scale structure of the cosmos is honeycomb in nature.

Superclusters are arranged on the surface of great “bubbles” in space — voids in the vacuum with very little dust, particles, and space debris — which creates the honeycomb structure on the very large scale of millions of light-years.