Astronomers have just added one more
layer to the Earth's celestial address.
You can now find us at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rENyyRwxpHo
Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky Way
Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo Supercluster,
Laniakea Galactic Supercluster
That last bit, the Laniakea Galactic
Supercluster, was only recently defined, but
it's the broadest galactic cluster to which
our small planet belongs.
According to a release from the National
Radio Astronomy Observatory:
“We have finally established the
contours that define the supercluster of
galaxies we can call home,” said lead
researcher R. Brent Tully, an astronomer
at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
“This is not unlike finding out for the
first time that your hometown is
actually part of much larger country
that borders other nations.”
In the video above,
Nature explains how, like the
division between two watersheds, the
boundary was determined between the Laniakea
supercluster and our nearest neighbor.
Read more:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/discovery-laniakea-galactic-supercluster-means-astronomers-just-added-another-item-your-address-180952616/#t1TJzeQCtOLFL20p.99
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