Huge filaments that operate as hidden bridges between galaxies connect the "cosmic web." Some of these filaments, spanning hundreds of millions of light-years, have just been confirmed to be spinning.
A group of scientists from Germany's Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam released a study titled "Possible Observational Evidence for Cosmic Filament Spin" in the journal Nature Astronomy, detailing their new findings on the universe's largest known structures.
Massive bridges consisting of galaxies and dark matter that connect clusters of galaxies are known as cosmic filaments, SlashGear explained. The filaments help galaxies lead towards and into massive clusters at the filaments' ends. These filaments have been dubbed a "cosmic superhighway."
The research describes how the cosmic filaments were revealed to be rotating around their central axis like enormous interstellar drills.
The scientists were able to investigate 17,000 filaments by analyzing data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. They discovered that galaxies moved within some of the massive space formations indicated that they were rotating around the filaments' central axis.
Researchers recorded galaxies revolving around the central axis of the filaments at speeds of up to 223,700 miles per hour (360,000 kph).
What Causes A Torque On This Scale? Scientists Remain Baffled
The spin could have been created by the filaments' tremendous gravitational fields dragging in gas, dust, and other stuff. However, research coauthor Noam Libeskind said they are "not really sure" causes a torque on this scale.
Part of the reason for this is that filaments are so enormous that detailed analysis is complicated:
"There are structures so vast that entire galaxies are just specks of dust," Libeskind told Space.com. "These huge filaments are much, much bigger than clusters."
The researchers also state that the spinning effect should not have been created by the Big Bang, albeit the study is more concerned with explaining their findings than with drawing any quick conclusions.
With its massive map of the cosmos, which shows some of the greatest holes and filaments in the observable universe, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has aided innumerable research in analyzing the universe.
Hundreds of thousands of galaxies are part of the Sloan Digital Sky study. Scientists were able to discover a new and intriguing attribute of the filaments because to Sloan data: the filaments spin. Despite being tiny cylinders the size of pencils that span hundreds of millions of light-years, the filaments are just a few million light-years in diameter, according to astronomer Peng Wang.
Small Overdensities Grow in Early Cosmos With No Primodial Rotation
According to the classic model of structure development, tiny overdensities grew in the early cosmos when matter moved from under to overdense regions due to gravitational instability. This is an irrotational or curl-free potential flow. According to scientists, the early cosmos had no primordial rotation.
As a result, any spinning in the cosmos must be generated as objects take shape. Galaxy formation and evolution are inextricably linked to cosmic webs in general and filaments in particular. These filaments also have a big influence on galaxy spin, as they often control the direction in which galaxies and their dark matter halos rotate.
Not all of the filaments that were observed were spinning at the same rate, researchers said. Other filaments found by the study were more static, implying that filament spinning is yet another space riddle to solve.
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