supergalaxy

plural supergalaxies

1. A very large, extended cluster of galaxies.

   Our galaxy, together with the ninety-three globular clusters and the two Magellanic Clouds, forms a sort of super-galaxy in space.

   1935, Arthur McCracken Harding, Astronomy: The Splendor of the Heavens Brought Down to Earth, Garden City, New York: Garden City Publishing Company, Inc., Our Galaxy Belongs to a Super-Galaxy, page 374

   1 more example

   The radio galaxies Virgo A, Centaurus A and possibly Fornax A lie within the Local Supergalaxy. In addition, the weaker galaxies NGC 4261, M84 and NGC 1068 are also located in this supergalaxy.

   1964, V. L. Ginzburg, S. I. Syrovatskii, translated by H. S. H. Massey, edited by D. ter Haar, The Origin of Cosmic Rays, Moscow: Pergamon Press, →ISBN, page 243

2. A single, isolated galaxy as a result of a wholesale merger of a galaxy cluster or group.

   Our descendants will observe that they live in a blob of stars, which results from gravity pulling together a few nearby galaxies into one supergalaxy.

   2013, Clifford A. Pickover, The Book of Black: Black Holes, Black Death, Black Forest Cake and Other Dark Sides of Life, Calla Editions, →ISBN, Lonely Black Sky, page 198