Hidden Galaxy Giant Behind Our Galaxy: The Vela Supercluster Emerges as a Cosmic Powerhouse
Astronomers mapping the Milky Way’s dust-shrouded Zone of Avoidance have revealed the Vela Supercluster, a vast structure about 300 million light-years across containing roughly 33,800 trillion solar masses, located around 870 million light-years away. Using 65,518 galaxy distance measurements plus 8,283 new redshifts from SALT and MeerKAT, they show Vela is comparable in mass to the Shapley Supercluster and its gravity exceeds that of the Great Attractor, helping explain observed cosmic flows and completing our map of the local universe.