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Concept

peculiar velocity

The component of a galaxy's motion that deviates from the smooth, uniform expansion of the universe known as the Hubble flow. While most galaxies move away from us due to the stretching of space, peculiar velocities are caused by the local gravitational pull of massive structures like superclusters. By measuring these deviations, astronomers can map the distribution of unseen mass, including dark matter, across hundreds of millions of light-years.

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