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A supercluster of IRAS galaxies behind the Great Attractor

Abstract

THE dynamics of nearby galaxies support the existence of a large concentration of mass (the 'Great Attractor') in the Centaurus region at a redshift (z) between 0.012 and 0.015 (refs 1, 2). Scaramella et al3 have suggested that a concentration of rich clusters of galaxies at zā‰ˆ0.05 in the Centaurus region may also have a significant role in perturbing the local Hubble flow. The existence of such overdense regions in the Universe would have a profound effect on ideas about the formation of large-scale structure4. At present the reality of such regions is supported by some, but not by all, studies of the streaming of distant galaxies1,2,5ā€“9. We demonstrate here that redshifts of galaxies that are in the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) survey show the existence of an extended supercluster at z ā‰ˆ0.05 surrounding the concentration of clusters described by Scaramella et al. Its contribution to the Local Group peculiar (non-Hubble) velocity is probably minor, although it may dominate motions on the far side of the Great Attractor.

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Allen, D., Norris, R., Smith, L. et al. A supercluster of IRAS galaxies behind the Great Attractor. Nature 343, 45ā€“46 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/343045a0

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