"This week, scientists add a new line to our planetary coordinates: the Laniakea galaxy supercluster. Do not bother googling the name. It really is brand new, coined by an international group of astronomers… Our place in the Universe, for so long one of the core mysteries of human existence that scientists and this journal are dedicated to unravelling, just got a little clearer. Laniakea, the scientists write, is our home supercluster, the one in which the Milky Way resides. What kind of home is it? It is big — some 160 million parsecs across. Although not as big as some superclusters, it is the largest in our local neighbourhood, which is surprisingly crowded given the vast emptiness of most of the cosmological void. It is a home that has been hiding in plain sight, colossal and all around us, yet unnoticed by previous astronomical surveys. ...The name Laniakea has Hawaiian roots, and roughly translated means spacious heaven. It is a beautiful address to have. And one that comes just in time for the new school year and a new curious generation."
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Original Language: English
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Nature editorial: "Heavenly homes",nature.com, 3 September 2014
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Milky_Way
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Milky Way
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