Laniakea Supercluster

The Laniakea Supercluster is the supercluster whose outer edges contain the Local Group, including the system that contains the Milky Way. In the supplied hierarchy, it belongs within the Observable Universe and provides the larger-scale setting for the Local Group and the Virgo Cluster. Superclusters are large collections of galaxy clusters, galaxy groups, and individual galaxies.

Such large collections are typically not gravitationally bound to one another. Groups and clusters, by contrast, are collections of galaxies bound by gravity and are components of still larger structures. Laniakea therefore belongs to the cosmic web, in which galaxies, groups, clusters, superclusters, and galactic walls are arranged in threadlike patterns. Gravity concentrates matter while leaving voids between concentrations; where concentrations intersect, structures such as clusters and walls can form.