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| Shapley Concentration | |
|---|---|
| Name | Shapley Concentration |
| Type | Supercluster complex |
| Constellation | Centaurus |
| Distance | ~650 million light-years |
| Redshift | ~0.046 |
| Major components | Abell 3558 complex, Abell 3562, Abell 3571 complex |
| Discovery | 1930s–1980s surveys |
| Notable | high galaxy density, major attractor |
Shapley Concentration The Shapley Concentration is a massive supercluster complex in the southern sky notable for its high density of galaxy clusters and large gravitational influence, often cited as a significant contributor to peculiar velocities in the local Universe; it is observed in the direction of the constellations Centaurus and Hydra. Its prominence was established through successive surveys and studies involving the Abell catalogue, Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and the Anglo-Australian Observatory, and it remains a focus for research linking observations from the Einstein Observatory, ROSAT, and Planck missions. The region plays a central role in comparative studies involving the Virgo Cluster, Coma Cluster, and the Great Attractor.
The complex sits in the southern celestial hemisphere and is often compared with the Laniakea Supercluster and the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster as an example of extreme overdensity, attracting attention from researchers at institutions such as the Mount Stromlo Observatory, Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Surveys by the Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Six-degree Field Galaxy Survey quantified its galaxy overdensity, informing cosmological analyses used by teams at the European Southern Observatory, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Space Telescope Science Institute, and the Australian National University. The Shapley region's gravitational influence is considered alongside the Local Group motion, the Great Attractor, and flows measured by projects involving the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe and Planck Collaboration.
The concentration comprises multiple rich clusters cataloged in the Abell catalogue such as the Abell 3558 complex, Abell 3562, and the Abell 3571 complex, embedded within filamentary structures observed in redshift surveys by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the 2MASS Redshift Survey. The structure includes inter-cluster gas detected in X-rays by Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton, and radio haloes imaged by the Australia Telescope Compact Array, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope, and the Very Large Array. Member galaxies include giant ellipticals studied with the Hubble Space Telescope and spectroscopic follow-up at the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope and Keck Observatory.
Initial identification traces to analyses of cluster catalogs by George Abell and subsequent optical studies at the Mount Wilson Observatory and Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, with the overdensity emphasized in a 1989 synthesis by Harlow Shapley's successors and teams at the Harvard College Observatory and University of Cape Town. X-ray and radio follow-up involved the Einstein Observatory, ROSAT All-Sky Survey, and targeted observations by Chandra X-ray Observatory, while redshift mapping was advanced by the Perth Observatory collaborations and international consortia including the Anglo-Australian Observatory and the European Southern Observatory. Major contributions to mapping and interpretation came from researchers associated with Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, University of Cambridge (Institute of Astronomy), and the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics.
Studies of peculiar velocities and infall patterns around the concentration have engaged theorists at the Princeton University cosmology group, the Institute for Advanced Study, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmology to model influence on the Local Group and nearby flows, often contrasting predictions from Lambda-CDM frameworks developed by teams at the University of Chicago and the California Institute of Technology. Hydrodynamical simulations run on supercomputers at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center and the Leiden Observatory investigate hierarchical merging, filamentary accretion, and tidal interactions, with comparisons to results from the Millennium Simulation and IllustrisTNG projects. Competing formation scenarios involve biased galaxy formation models from the University of Oxford and alternative interpretations explored by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
Prominent clusters in the region include Abell 3558, Abell 3562, Abell 3571, and neighboring Abell clusters cataloged by George Abell, with brightest cluster galaxies studied in detail at the European Southern Observatory and the Royal Observatory Edinburgh. Individual radio galaxies and dominant ellipticals have been observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, the Very Large Telescope, and the Keck Observatory, and included in samples analyzed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey team, the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey group, and researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy. Surveys by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae and spectroscopic programs at the Anglo-Australian Telescope have cataloged active galactic nuclei and star-forming systems within the complex.
Mass estimates combining X-ray observations from Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton with weak-lensing analyses performed using data from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Subaru Telescope, and the European Southern Observatory Very Large Telescope indicate a large dark matter component, consistent with expectations from Lambda-CDM cosmology modeled at institutions like the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics and Princeton University. Gravitational lensing studies by teams at the Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii and the Space Telescope Science Institute constrain mass profiles and substructure, while comparisons with baryon fractions employ data from the Planck Collaboration and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. The role of non-baryonic dark matter in driving the concentration's assembly has been explored in simulations by the IllustrisTNG and Millennium Simulation consortia.
The Shapley region is a key node in the cosmic web, linked by filaments to structures studied by the Two-degree Field Galaxy Redshift Survey, the Six-degree Field Galaxy Survey, and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, and is situated near flows associated with the Great Attractor and within the broader context of the Laniakea Supercluster mapping by researchers at the University of Hawaii and the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. Its study informs comparisons with the Perseus–Pisces Supercluster, the Corona Borealis Supercluster, and the Hercules Supercluster, and continues to motivate observational campaigns by facilities including the European Southern Observatory, the Australian National University, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
Category:Superclusters