Laniakea

Ljudi se oduvijek pitaju koje je njihovo mjesto unutar stvaranja. Filozofi,  religija, i naučnici, svi na svoj način pokušavaju dati odgovor na to pitanje. Ja ću se ograničiti samo na nauku jer ona daje direktne odgovore koji su potkrepljeni dokazima, a ono što možemo je na primjer pokušati locirati naš položaj u Svemiru.

From ages we always posed one question, what is our position inside the Creation. Philosophers, religions and scholars, all in their own way tried to answer this age old question. I will limit my self in this post only to scholars answers and through science, because those answers are backed with evidence and years of research. For example we can simplify that question and ask our selves: Where is our place in the Universe?

Ono što danas znamo jeste da se nalazimo na malenoj plavoj i stjenovitoj planeti zvanoj Zemlja koja se kreće oko osrednje žute zvijezde koju zovemo Sunce, unutar velike spiralne galaksije koju zovemo Mlječni Put. Ta naša spiralna galaksija se nalazi unutar malog lokalnog jata galaksija koja je opet djelom veće grupe galaksija takozvanog Virgo jata i tu je do nedavno  bio limit našeg znanja. Samo Virgo jato je bilo djelom Superjata Virgo ali koje je imalo tek nekakav mutan izgled i nesigurne granice.

What we know today is that we happen to be on a small, blue and rocky planet called Earth, orbiting a medium sized yellow star we named Sun inside a large spiral galaxy we named Milky Way. This galaxy is part of a small local cluster of galaxies which is part of a bigger cluster named Virgo which is again part of much bigger one a Super-cluster also named Virgo about which we didn't know much as the latest discoveries will show. 

Takođe posmatranjima smo saznali da negdje u smijeru naše galaksije ali daleko iza, skriven oblacima prašine se nalazi misteriozni obijekat zvani Veliki Atraktor. Ogromna koncentracija mase koja privlači okolne galaksije stotinama miliona svjetlosnih godina u prečniku, uključujući i naš Mlječni Put.

Thanks to our observations we also discovered that in the direction of main body of our galaxy but far beyond, hidden by vast clouds of gas and dust lies a mysterious object known as Great Attractor. A vast concentration of mass attracting surrounding galaxies in all directions in radius of millions of light years including our own Milky Way.

Astronomi su godinama pratili kretanje hiljada galaksija u našem superjatu u odnosu na taj Veliki Atraktor i globalna slika našeg lokalnog dijela Svemira je počela dobivati prepoznatljivi oblik. Saznali smo da je naše lokalno superjato tek djelom pravog superjata koje sadrži možda milione galaksija, a čiji je centar upravo misteriozni Veliki Atraktor. To mega jato galaksija je dobilo poetski naziv Laniakea što na Havajskom jeziku znači ogromno ili nemjerljivo nebo.

Astronomers have for years watched the movements of thousands of galaxies in our local super-cluster in respect to this Great Attractor and finally a global picture and shape of our local part of Universe has came in to focus. We have discovered that our local super-cluster Virgo is but a small part of a bigger super-cluster which consists of perhaps millions of galaxies with Great Attractor in its center. This mega cluster was named Laniakea, in Hawaiian language meaning "immeasurable or immense heaven".

Iako ne možemo direktno vidjeti Veliki Atraktor u srcu Laniakeje, možemo zato posmotriti druge takve slične objekte u Svemiru koji su centri svojih super jata galaksija, kao na primjer ovaj, Abell 1689.

We can not observe directly this Great Attractor, in the heart of Laniakea but instead we can observe similar objects in the Universe, other centers of other super-clusters, like this one, Abell 1689.

Skupina ogromnih galaksija koje su toliko masivne da krive sam prostor oko sebe stvarajući ove lukove svijetlosti koje su u stvari slike još daljih galaksija iskrivljene uticajem gravitacije kroz efekat gravitacionog sočiva. Naš Veliki Atraktor vijerovatno u mnogome je sličan ovoj skupini, Abell 1689.

This is a group of super-massive, huge galaxies which are so massive to distort the space it self around them forming those light arches which are actually images of even more distant galaxies distorted by immense gravity through an effect known as gravitational lensing . Our Great Attractor is probably very similar to this group, Abell 1689.

Tako je nesigurni oblik Super jata Virgo preinačen u jasnu sliku super jata Laniakea čiji je Virgo tek jedan okrajak u čijem se kutku nalazi i naš Mlječni Put zajedno sa Suncem i malecnom Zemljom.

The fuzzy shape of super-cluster Virgo have consolidated in to clear picture of super-cluster Laniakea with Virgo just a corner of it and within there there is a small part for us, our own Milky Way together with the Sun and the small Earth.

Da bi smo pobliže objasnili što je superjato glalksija moramo predočiti sebi sliku svemira, kako su galaksije raspoređene unutar njega i što to čini superjato.

But to understand all of this lets explain what it is a super-cluster of galaxies, lets check it from the perspective of the Universe.

Svemir u globalu izgleda kao na slici, glalaksije se pod uticajem gravitacije sakupljaju u dugačke niti ili filamente stvarajući izgled trodimenzionalne mreže a svako čvorište je po jedno takvo super jato glalaksija. Jedno od takvih čvorišta je i upravo naša Laniakea. 

Globally Universe looks like this (see picture), galaxies are attracted to each other by gravity and gather together in long strands making a shape which is similar to a net in 3 dimensions permeating entire Universe. Each node of that net is a mentioned super-cluster of galaxies. One of those nodes is our own Laniakea.

Da to stavimo u perspektivu, postoje milioni takvih čvorišta u vidljivom Svemiru koji sadrže trilione galaksija koje opet sadrže milijarde zvijeza i trilione planeta. Ova plava slika je tek mali odsječak Svemira.

To put this in a perspective, millions of those nodes exist in the Universe, all together made from trillions of galaxies with billions of stars and trillions of planets around them. This blue picture is just a small slice of the Universe.

Ali da se vratim kući u našu Laniakeu. Astronomi su godinama pratili oko 8000 galaksija, interpolirajući njihova kretanja u odnosu jedne na druge, na taj način je i otkriven Veliki Atraktor i na kraju sam oblik lokalnog Super Jata. Međutim da ne bih išao u detalje kako je sve ovo urađeno evo jednog divnog videa koji sve to objašnjava, (potrebno znanje Engleskog jezika):

But lets return home in our Laniakea. Astronomers have followed about 8000 galaxies, interpolating their movement in respect to each other, in that way the Great Attractor was discovered and in the end the shape and size of our local super-cluster. But I wont go in to details about how it was accomplished, here is this majestic video, with a great musical score which explains it perfectly.

U svakom slučaju, nauka nam daje odgovor na pitanje koje je naše mjesto u Svemiru. Istraživajući i posmatrajući danas znamo da smo tek malecni dio stvarnosti koju čine trilioni galaksija, nebrojeni brojevi zvijezda i planeta, toliko da ni sav pijesak sa svih plaža na Zemlji ne bi imao dovoljnu količinu zrna da opiše nevjerovatan broj svih tačkica svijetlosti koje čine naš Svemir.

In any case, science gives the answer we were looking for from the beginning of this article, "which is our place in the Universe". Thanks to the research and observations, today we know that we are but a tiny part of an wast reality consisting of trillions of galaxies, countless numbers of stars and planets and putting it in to a perspective, to take all sand from all beaches on Earth there wouldn't be enough grains of sand to describe the vast amount of points of light in our Universe.

Da prenesem riječi velikog promotera nauke i naučnika Karla Sagana:

To quote the words of a great promoter of science and him self a scientist, Carl Sagan:

"Rečeno je da je astronomija ponizno iskustvo koje gradi karakter. Možda ne postoji bolji primjer nego u gluposti ljudske uobraženosti koja postaje očigledna u ovoj slici našeg malenog svijeta. Meni ona podvlači našu odgovornost prema ovoj maloj plavoj tačci svijetlosti, da se bolje ponašamo jedan prema drugom, da čuvamo i pazimo ovu plavu tačku, jedini dom kojeg znamo."

"It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.”

Izvori/Sources:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/laniakea-home-supercluster-09032014/

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/140903-galaxy-supercluster-map-laniakea-astronomy-science-ngspace/

http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2014/09/04/laniakea_our_local_supercluster.html