The Great Attractor pulls galaxies at speeds exceeding 1 million miles per hour.
Key Takeaways
- The Milky Way Galaxy is being pulled toward a massive, mysterious region called the Great Attractor.
- This gravitational force is dragging our galaxy and others in the Local Group at over one million miles per hour.
- The Great Attractor lies hidden in the Zone of Avoidance, blocked by the Milky Way’s stars and dust.
- Recent theories suggest it could be linked to Laniakea, a vast supercluster of galaxies.
- Understanding the Great Attractor remains challenging due to the obscured view caused by our galaxy.
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Constant Motion: Four Ways the Universe Keeps Us Moving
Everything on Earth is in perpetual motion. While we experience movement daily from the Earth’s 1,000-mile-per-hour (1,600 kilometers per hour) spin, this is just the beginning. The Earth also orbits the Sun at an astounding 67,000 miles per hour (108,000 kilometers per hour), while our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy at a speed of over 500,000 miles per hour (828,000 kilometers per hour). Beyond this, the universe itself is expanding, adding another layer of cosmic motion.
However, a unique discovery made in the 1970s revealed that our galaxy and its neighbors are being pulled toward an unseen force at speeds surpassing one million miles per hour. This mysterious region has been dubbed the Great Attractor.
What Is the Great Attractor?
The Great Attractor is a gravitational anomaly within the Local Group, a cluster of galaxies near the Milky Way. Despite its immense influence, scientists have struggled to study it because it lies in a region known as the Zone of Avoidance—a part of the sky obscured by the Milky Way’s dense stars and interstellar dust.
According to Jorge Moreno, a computational astrophysicist at Pomona College, this obstruction makes it challenging to gather precise data about the Great Attractor’s nature.
A Leading Theory: Laniakea
While the Great Attractor remains a puzzle, recent research points to a possible explanation. Many scientists now believe it is tied to the Laniakea supercluster, a vast collection of galaxies whose name translates to “immense heaven” in Hawaiian. This supercluster encompasses a massive gravitational region that could explain the mysterious pull on the Milky Way and nearby galaxies.
The Great Attractor’s study is not just about uncovering a gravitational force—it also has implications for understanding the large-scale structure of the universe. With advancing technology and astronomical tools, scientists hope to one day reveal its secrets, despite the challenges posed by the Zone of Avoidance.