An image taken by the European Southern Observatory looking in the direction of the Great Attractor.

The Great Attractor is a gravity anomaly in intergalactic space within the range of the Centaurus Supercluster which reveals the existence of a localised concentration of mass equivalent to tens of thousands of galaxies, observable by its effect on the motion of galaxies and their associated clusters over a region hundreds of millions of light years across. Download high resolution version (750x812, 109 KB)Galaxies dot the sky like jewels in the direction of a mass so large it is known simply as the Great Attractor. ... Download high resolution version (750x812, 109 KB)Galaxies dot the sky like jewels in the direction of a mass so large it is known simply as the Great Attractor. ... The European Southern Observatory (ESO) is an international astronomical organisation, composed and supported by ten countries from the European Union plus Switzerland. ... Gravity anomalies are widely used in geodesy and geophysics. ... Intergalactic space is the physical space between galaxies. ... The Hydra-Centaurus Supercluster, or the Hydra and Centaurus superclusters, is a supercluster in two parts and the closest neighbour of Milky Ways Local Supercluster. ... This article is about a celestial body. ... A light year, abbreviated ly, is the distance light travels in one year: roughly 9. ...

These galaxies are all redshifted, in accordance with the Hubble Flow, indicating that they are receding relative to us and to each other, but the variations in their redshift are sufficient to reveal the existence of the anomaly. The variations in their redshifts are known as peculiar velocities, and cover a range from about +700 km/sec to -700 km/sec, depending on the angular deviation from the direction to the Great Attractor. Redshift of spectral lines in the optical spectrum of a supercluster of distant galaxies (right), as compared with that of the Sun (left). ... In cosmology, the Hubble expansion is the motion of galaxies away from each other, due to the expansion of the universe. ...

The first indications of a deviation from uniform expansion of the universe were reported in 1973 and again in 1978. The location of the Great Attractor was finally found in 1986 and lies at a distance of somewhere between 150 million and 250 million light years (the latter being the most recent estimate) from the Milky Way, in the direction of the Hydra and Centaurus constellations. That region of space is dominated by the Norma cluster (ACO 3627)^[1], a massive cluster of galaxies, and contains a preponderance of large, old galaxies, many of which are colliding with their neighbours, and/or radiating large amounts of radio waves. 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... It has been suggested that Andromeda-Milky Way collision be merged into this article or section. ... Hydra (IPA: ) is the largest of the 88 modern constellations, and was also one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy. ... Centaurus (Latin for centaur) was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and counts also among the 88 modern constellations. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Norma Cluster (ACO 3627 or Abell 3627) (galactic coordinates: (325°,−7°)) is a rich cluster of galaxies, lying near the center of the Great Attractor. ... The Norma Cluster (ACO 3627) is a partly obscured cluster of galaxies, also named Great Attractor, located 7 degrees from the plane of the Milky Way. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with radio frequency. ...

Attempts to further study the Great Attractor and other phenomena are hampered due to line of sight obstruction by its location in the zone of avoidance (the part of the night sky obscured by the Milky Way galaxy). When viewing a scene, as in optics, photography, or even hunting, the line of sight is the straight line between the observer and the target. ... The Zone of Avoidance is the area of the night sky that is obscured by our own galaxy, the Milky Way. ... It has been suggested that Andromeda-Milky Way collision be merged into this article or section. ...

The Great Attractor in fiction

• The Great Attractor is an element of Stephen Baxter's Xeelee Sequence of novels (eg. Ring).
• In the motion picture Men in Black, J (Will Smith) accidentally sends a small, shiny object flying and bouncing around MIB headquarters, causing a commotion. K (Tommy Lee Jones) explains to him that "This caused the 1977 New York blackout. A practical joke by the Great Attractor. He thought it was funny as hell."
• In Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, Azrael, the cosmic representation of the Death of Universes, is known as the Great Attractor.
• The Great Attractor is mentioned in the "Pip and Flinx" series by novelist Alan Dean Foster, in the book "Flinx's Folly." The Great Attractor is referenced as an attempt of an ancient alien race, to create something with enough gravitational pull to move the Milky Way, among other galaxies.

Stephen Baxter at the Science-Fiction-Tage NRW in Dortmund, Germany, March 1997 Stephen Baxter (born in Liverpool, 13 November 1957) is a British hard science fiction author. ... The Xeelee Sequence is a series of novels and short stories by British science fiction author Stephen Baxter. ... Ring is a 1994 science fiction book by author Stephen Baxter. ... Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy action film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent DOnofrio. ... Willard Christopher Will Smith, Jr. ... For the musician, see Tommy Lee. ... TIME, July 25, 1977 The New York City Blackout of 1977 was a blackout that affected New York City on July 13–14, 1977. ... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... // This article is about the novels. ... See also: Discworld magic The Discworld gods are the fictional deities from Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

References

1. ^ R. C. Kraan-Korteweg, in Lecture Notes in Physics 556, edited by D. Pageand J.G. Hirsch, p. 301 (Springer, Berlin, 2000).

A first-person account, written for the layman, of the research effort that discovered the great attractor can be found in Dressler, Alan. Voyage to the Great Attractor: Exploring Intergalactic Space. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.