title: The Laniakea supercluster of galaxies.
abstract: Galaxies congregate in clusters and along filaments, and are missing from large regions referred to as voids. These structures are seen in maps derived from spectroscopic surveys that reveal networks of structure that are interconnected with no clear boundaries. Extended regions with a high concentration of galaxies are called 'superclusters', although this term is not precise. There is, however, another way to analyse the structure. If the distance to each galaxy from Earth is directly measured, then the peculiar velocity can be derived from the subtraction of the mean cosmic expansion, the product of distance times the Hubble constant, from observed velocity. The peculiar velocity is the line-of-sight departure from the cosmic expansion and arises from gravitational perturbations; a map of peculiar velocities can be translated into a map of the distribution of matter. Here we report a map of structure made using a catalogue of peculiar velocities. We find locations where peculiar velocity flows diverge, as water does at watershed divides, and we trace the surface of divergent points that surrounds us. Within the volume enclosed by this surface, the motions of galaxies are inward after removal of the mean cosmic expansion and long range flows. We define a supercluster to be the volume within such a surface, and so we are defining the extent of our home supercluster, which we call Laniakea.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, USA.
authors.forename: R Brent
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Tully
authors.affiliation: Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, Institut de Physique Nucléaire, Université Lyon I, CNRS/IN2P3, Lyon 69622, France.
authors.forename: Hélène
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Courtois
authors.affiliation: Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: Yehuda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hoffman
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche sur les Lois Fondamentales de l'Univers, CEA/Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pomarède