January 24, 2023

An image of the Milky Way superimposed on that of galaxies (represented as yellow dots) simulated in the IllustrisTNG project immersed in dark matter (in green and blue)

An article published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports the results of a study that indicates that the Milky Way is abnormally massive in relation to the so-called Local Sheet, the group of galaxies that surround it. A team of researchers used simulations conducted within the IllustrisTNG project and discovered that a galaxy in the same situation as the Milky Way should be much smaller than the cosmic wall that surrounds it. The simulations indicate that there’s one exception for every million galaxies in IllustrisTNG under the same conditions. This must be kept in mind in studies of galactic environments.