The cosmic web is a huge and complex network of filaments of dark matter, gas and galaxies, with clusters and superclusters of galaxies inside the points where several of these filaments meet. The filament structure also leaves large empty spaces, which are called ‘voids’.
In this 3D model we see a part of the cosmic web that includes Laniakea, the galaxy supercluster where our own galaxy, the Milky Way, resides. At the centre of the model would be the Milky Way but the scale does not allow us to represent it. It is possible to identify several superclusters of galaxies, cosmic objects encompassing thousands of galaxies, which we have represented as smooth, irregular solid shapes that look like large beans. A geometrical shape has been engraved in each supercluster to allow for its identification by touch. The filaments that connect two superclusters are named after those of the clusters themselves.
Laniakea is estimated to comprise 100 000 galaxies (including the Milky Way). The portion of the universe represented in the model contains on the order of 1 million galaxies.
This work has been carried out with a grant from the R&D&I ‘Proof of Concept’ 2022 (PDC2022) call for projects, financed by the European Union through the NextGenerationEU Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. Project’s reference: PDC2022-133930-I00.