Astronomers have discovered a large rotating structure in space, described as a "razor-thin" string of galaxies within a massive spinning cosmic filament located about 140 million light-years from Earth.
The research, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, involves scientists from the University of Cambridge. The study identifies 14 hydrogen-rich galaxies arranged in a line approximately 5.5 million light-years long and 117,000 light-years wide. This group is part of a larger filament containing over 280 galaxies and stretching roughly 50 million light-years.
Cosmic filaments are known as some of the largest structures in the universe, acting as frameworks where matter and momentum move into galaxies. The discovery that many galaxies within this filament appear to spin in the same direction as the filament itself suggests that such structures may influence galaxy rotation more than previously thought.
Researchers observed that galaxies on either side of the filament's center move in opposite directions, indicating overall rotation. Models estimate this rotation at about 110 kilometers per second with a central region radius near 163,000 light-years.
Co-lead author Dr Lyla Jung from the University of Oxford said, “What makes this structure exceptional is not just its size, but the combination of spin alignment and rotational motion. It’s like the teacups ride at a theme park. Each galaxy is like a spinning teacup, but the whole platform- the cosmic filament -is rotating too. This dual motion gives us rare insight into how galaxies gain their spin from the larger structures they live in.”
The team notes that this filament appears young and relatively undisturbed due to its high number of gas-rich galaxies and low internal movement. Galaxies rich in hydrogen are considered good indicators for studying how gas moves along filaments and how angular momentum affects galaxy formation.
Hydrogen’s sensitivity to motion allows astronomers to trace gas flows through these cosmic structures, providing information on star formation processes and galaxy evolution.
The findings may also help refine models used for future cosmology surveys by identifying potential sources of error when measuring weak gravitational lensing effects with instruments such as ESA's Euclid mission or Chile’s Vera C. Rubin Observatory.
“This filament is a fossil record of cosmic flows,” said co-lead author Dr Madalina Tudorache from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy. “It helps us piece together how galaxies acquire their spin and grow over time.”
Data for this study came from South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array using observations from MIGHTEE survey data combined with optical data from DESI and SDSS projects to reveal both aligned spins among galaxies and bulk rotation within the filament.
Reference:
Madalina N Tudorache, S L Jung et al. ‘A 15 Mpc rotating galaxy filament at redshift z = 0.032.’ Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (2025). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/staf2005