Astronomers Uncover Colossal 50-Million-Light-Year Rotating Spiral Filament of Galaxies

An international research team, spearheaded by investigators from the University of Oxford, announced in December 2025 the discovery of an extraordinarily vast, spinning structure embedded within the cosmic web. This formation is an ultra-thin filament of galaxies, stretching approximately 50 million light-years end-to-end, which exhibits rotation around its central axis. This characteristic positions it as one of the largest confirmed rotating systems ever observed.

The newly identified cosmic spiral is situated roughly 140 million light-years away from Earth, corresponding to a redshift value of z=0.032. This measurement places it within a relatively nearby cosmic neighborhood, allowing for detailed study using current instrumentation.

This remarkable finding emerged from data collected by the MeerKAT radio telescope located in South Africa, as part of the MIGHTEE deep survey. The MIGHTEE survey is specifically designed to map the radio emissions from neutral hydrogen gas. Professor Matt Jarvis, an astrophysics expert at the University of Oxford, headed the MIGHTEE (MeerKAT International GHz Tiered Extragalactic Exploration) program. The team supplemented the radio data with optical observations sourced from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to fully delineate the structure’s extent.

Researchers successfully pinpointed 14 hydrogen-rich galaxies aligned along this filament. While the filament itself is substantial, it forms part of an even larger cosmic structure encompassing over 280 galaxies in total. The sheer scale of this organized arrangement is what makes the discovery so significant for cosmology.

A key feature of this filament is the coherent rotation displayed across the entire structure. Galaxies situated on one side of the filament are demonstrably moving toward Earth, while those on the opposite side are receding. The calculated rotational velocity for this massive system is estimated at around 110 kilometers per second, implying that a single full revolution would take approximately 2.8 billion years to complete. Professor Matt Jarvis emphasized that synthesizing data from multiple observatories was absolutely crucial for gaining deeper insights into how these massive cosmic structures and individual galaxies take shape.

Dr. Lihua Jung, a joint lead author on the study, highlighted the unique nature of this object, noting the simultaneous alignment of spin axes and the overall rotational movement. She likened the phenomenon to the dizzying experience on a theme park ride, specifically the 'teacups.' This dual motion offers invaluable clues regarding the mechanisms by which galaxies acquire angular momentum from the larger environments they inhabit.

Dr. Madalina Tudorache, affiliated with both the University of Cambridge and Oxford, described the filament as a “fossilized trace of cosmic flows.” She suggested it serves as a vital tool for reconstructing how galaxies accumulate their spin and evolve over cosmic timescales. Furthermore, the abundance of hydrogen-containing galaxies acts as an excellent tracer for gas flow along these cosmic highways, revealing how angular momentum is redistributed across the cosmic web, thereby influencing galactic morphology, spin rates, and star formation activity.

Current cosmological models, such as the Tidal Torque Theory (TTT), generally posit that angular momentum originates from the shear forces acting on large-scale matter flows. However, this new research revealed that the spin axes of nearly all galaxies within the filament are parallel to the filament's structure. This degree of coherence is far more pronounced than standard cosmological simulations predict. This suggests that the influence of the surrounding cosmic environment on galactic spin is both stronger and more persistent than previously assumed. Moreover, the galaxies within the filament possess an unusually high reservoir of hydrogen, suggesting the structure is relatively young and has not undergone significant mergers or collisions.

The research team characterizes this system as a “flow fossil,” a relic from the early universe when these massive structures first began to coalesce. This finding provides fresh empirical evidence regarding the distribution of matter and angular momentum throughout the cosmos, potentially necessitating revisions to current cosmological frameworks. Should highly organized structures like this prove to be common, it could significantly impact the analysis of future gravitational lensing experiments, including those planned by the European Space Agency’s Euclid mission or the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile. Ultimately, this discovery may unlock secrets concerning the origin of galactic rotation and the initial angular momentum of the universe itself.