Cosmic Giant Vela Supercluster Mapped Behind the Milky Way
Astronomers have for the first time mapped the Vela Supercluster, a colossal structure roughly 300 million light-years across that houses at least 20 galaxy clusters and contains about 30 quadrillion solar masses. Hidden behind the Milky Way’s Zone of Avoidance, the map was built from 65,000 existing distance measurements and ~8,000 new redshifts (including ~2,000 from the MeerKAT radio telescope), revealing two massive cores moving toward each other and placing Vela among the universe’s largest known structures—larger than Laniakea and rivaling the Shapley Supercluster. This new view could refine models of cosmic structure and dynamics, though parts of the spread will remain obscured by dust and gas.
