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5d ago

Scientists Detect Largest Known Rotating Filament in the Cosmic Web

Multi‑survey observations reveal coherent rotation with aligned galaxy spins to illuminate how galaxies gain angular momentum.

A figure depicting the rotation of neutral hydrogen in galaxies residing in an extended filament, where the galaxies exhibit a coherent bulk rotational motion tracing the large-scale cosmic web, is seen in this undated illustration obtained by Reuters on December 4, 2025. Scientists have observed one of the largest rotating structures ever seen in the universe, a filament comprised of galaxies and gas and dark matter located 140 million light-years away from Earth and measuring 5.5 million light-years in length. Lyla Jung/Handout via REUTERS
Astronomers have identified a strikingly narrow formation: fourteen galaxies rich in hydrogen, each spaced along a stretch spanning more than 5.5 million light-years, embedded within a significantly larger spinning cosmic filament. This is an image of spiral galaxy M74 (Photo: Nasa)
Image

Overview

  • The filament lies roughly 140 million light-years away and extends about 50 million light-years in length with a width near 117,000 light-years.
  • Researchers report roughly 280–300 galaxies in the structure, including a razor‑thin chain of 14 hydrogen‑rich galaxies stretching about 5.5 million light-years.
  • Opposite line‑of‑sight motions on either side of the filament’s spine indicate bulk rotation with an estimated speed of about 110 km/s.
  • The finding combines deep MeerKAT MIGHTEE radio data with DESI and SDSS spectroscopy and is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  • Authors describe the system as gas‑rich and dynamically cold, adding constraints for models of galaxy spin acquisition and informing treatments of intrinsic alignments in weak‑lensing surveys.