Clustering on a Scale of 10¹⁸ M_●

Extract

This discussion represents an update of an article submitted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal that describes the concentration of Abell clusters to the supergalactic equator. Since that article was written, our sample of Abell-class clusters has been augmented by 44% to now total 309 clusters within a redshift of 0.1c. The distribution of those clusters with distance from the supergalatic equator is illustrated in the accompanying figure. The normalized histogram includes an attempt to correct for the diminished unobscured area in planes off the supergalactic equator. Within 4 bins on the equator (i.e., within 80/h₇₅ Mpc) there are 105 clusters, rather than the 48 clusters that would be expected with a random distribution. The 57 excess clusters represents a 4.6 σ signal.