Velocity basin
Laniakea is defined by reconstructed peculiar-velocity streamlines converging toward a shared basin, not by a luminous edge.
Home supercluster basin
Laniakea is the Milky Way's large-scale velocity basin.
Laniakea groups the Local Group, Virgo Cluster, and nearby galaxy flows into one basin of attraction. Its boundary is drawn where reconstructed peculiar-velocity streamlines peel away toward neighboring basins rather than as a solid wall.
Drag rotate - wheel zoom - right-drag pan - independent simulator
Laniakea Supercluster: loading galaxy-flow model.
Observed identity
Catalog scale and interpretation
Independent simulator
Separate from the 3D space simulation
The simulator emphasizes basin boundary, streamlines, Virgo, Local Group, Great Attractor, and Shapley direction.
This page uses its own generated large-scale-structure script and canvas. It is not merged into the solar-system or outer-space simulator because the coordinates are megaparsec-scale velocity-field coordinates, not AU-scale object positions.
3D simulation
Laniakea Supercluster galaxy-flow model
Rotate and zoom the local-volume reconstruction. Gold streamlines are peculiar velocities after subtracting smooth Hubble expansion; bright knots mark Virgo, Norma/Great Attractor, Shapley direction, and Local Group context.
Drag rotate - wheel zoom - right-drag pan - independent simulator
Laniakea Supercluster: loading galaxy-flow model.
Mathematical Verification
Why this model is theoretically defensible
Boundary rule
The displayed surface approximates where streamlines diverge toward neighboring attractors, matching the supercluster-as-basin interpretation.
Local Group placement
The Milky Way is inside the basin; Virgo and Hydra-Centaurus structure shape the nearby streamline geometry.
Scale conversion
160 Mpc x 3.26156 million light-years per Mpc gives about 522 million light-years, matching the adopted page scale.
Not a bound object
Cosmic expansion and dark energy mean a supercluster is a large-scale structure description, not a single virialized object.
Verification scope
The model is a defensible vector-field diagram for flow direction and scale, not an N-body replacement for survey data.
Model equations
Flow field used by the simulator
The coordinate unit is Mpc. Hubble expansion is v_H = H0 r, with H0 = 70 km s^-1 Mpc^-1 in the readout. The displayed stream vectors use v_total(r) = H0 r + v_pec(r), where v_pec follows the softened acceleration direction toward the overdensity center.
Because a softened potential has finite acceleration at small radius and inverse-square behavior at large radius, the field has the right qualitative limit for a distributed mass concentration.
Proof note
What is proved here
The simulator proves internal mathematical consistency: units are Mpc, Mly, and km s^-1; the vector field is derived from a scalar softened potential; streamlines follow the negative potential gradient; and the Laniakea scale conversion uses 1 Mpc = 3.26156 million light-years.
It does not prove a unique mass map from observations. A survey-grade result requires redshift-distance catalogs, peculiar-velocity reconstruction, selection-function correction, and uncertainty propagation.
Research Pathways
Related pages
Astronomy hub
Use the astronomy hub to move between stellar objects, cosmic expansion, voids, black holes, and supercluster-scale structure.
Bootes Void
Compare overdensity-driven flow with a large underdense cosmic-web region.
Big Bang expansion
Connect late-time large-scale structure to Lambda-CDM scale factor and structure-growth context.
SkyMap
Use SkyMap for object coordinates and observational context.
Mathematical model
Page model status
This page does not introduce a standalone generated physics or engineering simulation. Any decorative background or static illustration is presentation only; mathematical claims must come from the cited equations, catalog values, or linked model-verification pages.
No image-derived claim
\[\text{visual decoration} \ne \text{physical model}\]
Decorative images, icons, and background effects on this page are not used as evidence for a scientific or engineering statement.
Content claim standard
\[\text{claim} \rightarrow \text{source field or equation}\]
If the text gives a quantitative fact, it must be traceable to a data field, unit conversion, or equation on the relevant detailed page.
Model handoff
\[\text{open } \mathtt{/model\text{-verification/}}\]
Interactive pages linked from here carry their own mathematical model sections with equations, assumptions, proof notes, and limitations.
Verification standard: the rendered object must be reproducible from stated equations, catalog parameters, or explicit geometric transforms. Visual reference images may inform presentation only; they are not the source of orbital positions, field vectors, accretion-disk gradients, timing, or engineering layout.
Limitations: browser scenes may use bounded scale, compressed distances, simplified two-body dynamics, schematic transfer curves, or educational approximations where full numerical ephemerides, CFD, finite-element models, or general-relativistic ray tracing are outside the page scope. Those simplifications are part of the model contract, not hidden image-based construction.