Astronomers suggest our Milky Way galaxy is not floating freely in space, but is instead embedded within a flat, sheet-like structure of dark matter. New research analyzes the gravitational pull of unseen mass, indicating our local universe possesses more structure than previously understood.
This finding may resolve puzzles like the Local Sheet, a flat arrangement of galaxies including the Milky Way and Andromeda; the Local Void, a region with unusually few galaxies; and the surprisingly smooth expansion of the Universe locally, known as the quiet Hubble flow.
Researchers simulated the early universe using data from the cosmic microwave background. Their models reproduced observed galaxy motions only when assuming a sheet-like architecture of mass with voids above and below. This dark matter sheet naturally explains the observed arrangement of galaxies and their movements, aligning with current cosmological models.