Did We Just Find The Largest Rotating ‘Thing’ In The Universe?

“Why are they rotating, however? Is it something that can truly be explained by tidal torques and nothing else? The early evidence points to “yes,” as the presence of large masses near the filaments — what cosmologists identify as “haloes” — seems to intensify the rotation. As the authors note, “the more massive the haloes that sit at either end of the filaments, the more rotation is detected,” consistent with gravitational torques inducing these motions. Nevertheless, more study is needed, as temperature and other physics may also play a role.

The big breakthrough is that we’ve finally detected rotation on these unprecedentedly large scales. If all goes well, we’ll not only figure out why, but we’ll be able to predict how quickly each filament that we see ought to be spinning, and for what reason. Until we can predict how every structure in the Universe forms, behaves, and evolves, theoretical astrophysicists will never run out of work to do.”

We know that on small scales, everything rotates. We know that on the scale of the entire observable Universe, there’s no rotation to be seen. Well, what are the largest structures, then, that do rotate? Galaxies? Galaxy clusters? Something even bigger? Yes, something bigger!

The cosmic filaments that connect galaxy clusters, spanning 100+ million light-years, really do rotate! Here’s what we know, and here’s what we think is going down.