The Supercluster--Void Network. IV. The Shape and Orientation of Superclusters
Jaak Jaaniste, Erik Tago, Maret Einasto, Jaan Einasto, Heinz Andernach
and Volker Muller
We present a study of the shape, size, and spatial orientation of superclusters
of galaxies. Approximating superclusters by triaxial ellipsoids we show
that superclusters are flattened, triaxial objects. We find that there
are no spherical superclusters. The sizes of superclusters grow with their
richness: the median semi-major axis of rich and poor superclusters is
42 and 31 Mpc , respectively. Similarly, the median semi-minor axis is
12 and 5 Mpc for rich and poor superclusters. The spatial orientation of
superclusters, as determined from the axes of ellipsoids, is nearly random.
We do not detect any preferable orientation of superclusters, neither with
respect to the line of sight, nor relative to some other outstanding feature
in the large scale structure, nor with respect to the directions of principal
axes of adjacent superclusters.
Click to see VRML models of some superclusters
The Shapley supercluster,
animation (AVI)
The Draco supercluster
SCL 18
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