Local Sheet

The Local Sheet is a huge part of our space.

It is a thin wall of many galaxies. Most bright galaxies near us belong to this sheet. It is part of a larger area called the Virgo Supercluster. This sheet also marks one edge of the Local Void. The Local Void is a giant, empty space.

Galaxies in the sheet move in a special way. They have a peculiar velocity, which means they move differently than the rest of space. Two things cause this motion. First, gravity pulls them toward the Virgo Cluster. Second, they move away from the center of the Local Void. The void is a vast region of space. It is about 150 million light-years across. This expansion pushes the galaxies outward.

Scientists first described this region in 1987. Astronomer Brent Tully and his colleague Richard Fisher studied it. They wrote about it in a book called The Nearby Galaxies Atlas. They originally called the area Cloud 14. Tully believes the Local Sheet is just one part of the Coma-Sculptor Cloud. He says it is the part that moves together. Other experts like McCall think the names mean the same thing.

There is a ring of large galaxies called the Council of Giants.

This ring surrounds our Local Group. It has a radius of about 10 million light-years. The center is 15 million light-years from our Sun. Ten of these galaxies are spirals. Two are elliptical galaxies named Maffei 1 and Centaurus A. These two sit on opposite sides of our group.

Think of the Local Sheet like a thin layer of dust. It sits between much larger things in space. The sheet is about 10 million light-years across. It is also about 1 million light-years thick. It is tilted 8 degrees from the Virgo Supercluster. This shape helps us map our place in the universe. Most galaxies in the sheet are late-type galaxies. This is different from the Virgo Cluster. In that cluster, many galaxies are early-type.