This could be a galactic wall billions of light-years from Earth.
A supercluster of 830 galaxies located at a distance of 4.5-6.4 billion light-years from solar system, was discovered by an international group of scientists, which included representatives from the UK, Spain, the USA and Estonia. Astrophysicists suggest that the galactic wall they discovered is the largest object in the universe known to date.
The Milky Way is part of a supercluster of galaxies called Laniakea, whose center of gravity is located in a gravitational anomaly called the Great Attractor. Until now, only a group of galaxies called the Great Wall of Sloan could compete with it in size. However, a new object discovered using the BOSS (Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey) database claims to be an absolute record. It is estimated that its mass is about 10 thousand times greater than that of the Milky Way, reports New Scientist.
As some researchers note, today the question of what exactly can be considered a “space object” and how to determine its boundaries, if we are talking about a collection of galaxies, remains largely debatable. The criterion could be considered the simultaneous movement of all galaxies included in the supercluster in outer space, but it is not possible to check this from such a huge distance at the current level of technology development.
It is also noted that the BOSS galactic wall, which claims to be the largest object in the universe, has potential competitors. Some researchers pay attention to clusters of quasars, looking as if the quasars in them represent a certain system. However, if a connection between them really exists, it is impossible to explain such a structure from the point of view of modern cosmological theories, so the BOSS galactic wall is a more “realistic” candidate, experts say.
Space is not just great nothing, an endless space without oxygen and sounds. Unusual and amazing objects are hidden in its depths, about which nothing is known to mankind yet.
However, scientists manage to discover something, and among the finds there are truly impossible ones: what about a whole huge cloud of alcohol or a foam planet?
He collected the most amazing planets, nebulae, and other cosmic finds that will surprise anyone simply by the very fact of their existence. Just look:
1. "Pan" - a real space dumpling
This is a satellite of Saturn, which with "rings" from our star system. A couple of years ago it was believed that it was spherical, but in reality everything turned out differently.
When Pana photographed the Cassini 7 probe from a distance of 24.5 km, the photo showed that it was flattened and with a belt. It looks like a real dumpling or, if you like, ravioli.
2. Sombrero galaxy with a black hole at the very center
This galaxy is 28 million light-years away. It seems like it is far away, but from the Earth it is quite visible. And in general - this is not one galaxy, but two. So this is the form.
And this space object is also cool because inside it is a supermassive black hole, which by weight is 1 billion of our suns.
3 Huge Styrofoam Planet
An exoplanet called Kepler-7 b was discovered using the Kepler telescope. It has an abnormally low density: 30 times lower than that of water on Earth.
cubic meter of the substance from which it is made heavenly body, weighs only 30 kg. Approximately the same amount weighs foam plastic, which is used to insulate houses. Hence the name.
4The Soap Bubble Gas Nebula
A beautiful symmetrical nebula floats in the field of the constellation Cygnus. It was discovered only a few years ago, so it is not in many astronomical atlases.
Most surprising is the shape and appearance of the nebula. She resembles the real soap bubble, and this is the nickname given to her by scientists.
5. "Tethys" - a huge eye in outer space
Another satellite of Saturn, and it resembles a huge eye that watches us from the distant expanses of space. Meet Tefia.
The iris and pupil on the satellite is a huge crater in the middle of it. It was taken by the Cassini probe just two years ago, in 2017.
6. Most expensive real diamond planet
The planet is called 55 Cancri e. It revolves around a star that resembles the Sun in the constellation Cancer. A year on it is equal to our 18 hours.
The temperature at the surface of the planet reaches 1,648 degrees Celsius. It is twice the size of the Earth and a third is made up of diamond. Imagine how much it could cost.
7. Ancient space cloud "Himiko"
One of the oldest objects in space
This is one of the most interesting phenomena in space, which is known to our scientists. The cloud, which consists of three young galaxies, formed 800 million years after the Big Bang.
It seems like a huge amount of time. But by space standards, this is not much. By observing Himiko, scientists can give a large number of answers to the questions of the universe.
Source 8The Witch's Head Nebula
The real name of the nebula is IC 2118. It is located in the southern constellation of Eridani at a distance of 1,000 light years from the Sun. Most of all, it is her outline that surprises.
We see the nebula because of the star Rigel. Due to its radiation, the outlines of the "Witch's Head" are reflected and visible in telescopes from the Earth.
9. Rum and Raspberry Flavored Dust Cloud
We can't try it.
It is located in a region of space called Sagittarius B2. It was discovered about ten years ago, and the thematic media immediately began to repeat that this object should have a raspberry flavor.
Scientists assure that the molecules that were found in the cloud are indeed similar in structure to the molecules of rum. But trying all this will not work, at least because of other dangerous chemical compounds.
10. Incredibly large space ocean
An ocean made up of steam
At a distance of 12 billion light-years from Earth, there is a quasar called APM 08279 + 5255. Its brightness exceeds the solar one by 100 billion times. But that's not what we're interested in.
A few years ago, huge reserves of water were discovered around it. They are 140 trillion times the volume of the earth's oceans. Surprisingly, it is still too far for us to fly there.
11. "Prometheus" - a real space potato
Potato potatoes
This satellite of the same Saturn has an irregular and uneven shape, dotted with craters. Therefore, it resembles a real potato.
"Prometheus" is called the shepherd satellite. It attracts cosmic dust and other objects that form one of the planet's rings.
12. The loneliest planet known to man
A planet that walks on its own
The planet is called PSO J318.5-22 and lies 80 light-years from Earth. It is six times larger than Jupiter and does not obey any star.
Yes, usually the planets are tied to heavenly body, but this one likes to walk by itself more. This is a unique phenomenon, but it proves that such a thing is even possible.
13. Huge "Great Wall of Hercules - Northern Crown"
Our scientists have not yet found anything larger in space
When scientists observed gamma radiation in the universe, they discovered the largest cosmic object known to our science at all.
Its size is 10 billion light years, and the name for it came up with a Filipino teenager. He described the object on Wikipedia before the scientists, and they did not change his name.
14. This is the largest star that is known to science.
Just huge!
It is called VY Canis Major and is 1,500 times larger than the Sun in diameter. Compared to this star, our planet is nothing at all. Our science does not yet know more than a star.
However, to claim that this is the most big star in the Universe is impossible, because a couple of hundred years ago a big star considered our Sun.
15. The most famous red dwarf "Proxima Centauri"
Someday we'll move here
Its ecosystem hosts the exoplanet Proxima b. It is located at such a distance from the star that life could theoretically be on it.
Moreover, scientists generally believe that it is in the ecosystem of a red dwarf, to which 4.22 light years fly from us, that in the future may run over humanity.
16. There is a hot ice planet in space.
Such ice is called "Ice X"
It is called "Gliese 436 b" is located at a distance of 33 light years. It belongs to the class of hot Neptunes because of the substances of which it is composed.
Judging by the density, it contains water molecules. Due to the size of the planet, which is 4.5 times larger than the Earth, the liquid remains in a crystallized form even at 300 degrees - it's ice, but hot.
17. The planet with the worst weather in the universe
OMG: it's raining glass here
It is called HD 189733 b. At first glance, it resembles the Earth. The same blue dot in the infinitely black depths of space. But that's where the similarities end.
The wind speed on this planet reaches 8,700 km/h. At the same time, it constantly rains, but not from water, but from molten glass.
18. A huge cloud of alcohol in the middle of outer space
There is no such thing as too much alcohol
A huge cloud of alcohol is located at a distance of 6,500 light years from Earth. It consists of almost nothing but ethanol, and is approximately 482,803,200,000 kilometers long.
Scientists specify that about 189,270,589,200,000 liters of beer could be made from such a volume of alcohol. But these calculations may not be 100% accurate.
19. An amazing part of the Carina Nebula "God's Finger"
The Carina Nebula, captured by NASA, can take on the most bizarre shapes. Some see in its parts a hand with an outstretched finger - hence the name.
20. The real "Death Star" orbiting Saturn
Tell me, it really looks like!
A few years ago, the Cassini spacecraft managed to capture another moon of Saturn called Mimas. He was immediately dubbed the "Death Star".
October 27, 2015, 03:38 pmThe ancient pyramids, the tallest skyscraper in the world in Dubai, almost half a kilometer high, the grandiose Everest - just looking at these huge objects is breathtaking. And at the same time, compared to some objects in the universe, they are microscopic in size.
The largest asteroid
Today, Ceres is considered the largest asteroid in the universe: its mass is almost a third of the entire mass of the asteroid belt, and its diameter is over 1000 kilometers. The asteroid is so large that it is sometimes referred to as a "dwarf planet".
largest planet
The largest planet in the Universe is TrES-4. It was discovered in 2006 and is located in the constellation Hercules. A planet called TrES-4 orbits a star that is about 1,400 light-years away from planet Earth.
The planet TrES-4 itself is a ball that consists mainly of hydrogen. Its size is 20 times the size of the Earth. The researchers claim that the diameter of the discovered planet is almost 2 times (more precisely, 1.7) the diameter of Jupiter (this is the largest planet in the solar system). The temperature of TrES-4 is about 1260 degrees Celsius.
The biggest black hole
In terms of area, black holes are not that big. However, given their mass, these objects are the largest in the universe. And the largest black hole in space is a quasar, whose mass is 17 billion times (!) More than the mass of the Sun. This is a huge black hole at the very center of the galaxy NGC 1277, an object that is larger than the entire solar system - its mass is 14% of the total mass of the entire galaxy.
largest galaxy
The so-called "super galaxies" are several galaxies merged together and located in galactic "clusters", clusters of galaxies. The largest of these "super galaxies" is IC1101, which is 60 times the size of the galaxy that hosts our solar system. The length of IC1101 is 6 million light years. By comparison, the Milky Way is only 100,000 light-years across.
The largest star in the universe
VY Big Dog- the largest known star and one of the most bright stars in the sky. It is a red hypergiant located in the constellation Canis Major. The radius of this star is about 1800-2200 times greater than the radius of our Sun, its diameter is about 3 billion kilometers.
Huge deposits of water
Astronomers have discovered the largest and most massive reservoir of water ever found in the universe. The giant cloud, about 12 billion years old, contains 140 trillion times more water than all of Earth's oceans combined.
A cloud of gaseous water surrounds a supermassive black hole located 12 billion light-years from Earth. This discovery shows that water has dominated the universe for almost its entire existence, the researchers said.
largest cluster of galaxies
El Gordo is located more than 7 billion light-years from Earth, so what we are seeing today is just an early stage of it. According to the researchers who have studied this galaxy cluster, it is the largest, hottest and emits the most radiation than any other known cluster at the same distance or further.
The central galaxy at the center of El Gordo is incredibly bright and has an unusual blue glow. The authors of the studies suggest that this extreme galaxy is the result of a collision and merger of two galaxies.
Using the Spitzer Space Telescope and optical imaging, scientists estimate that 1 percent of the cluster's total mass is stars, and the rest is hot gas that fills the space between the stars. This ratio of stars to gas is similar to the ratio in other massive clusters.
SuperVoid
More recently, scientists have discovered the largest cold spot in the universe (at least known to the science of the universe). It is located in the southern part of the constellation Eridanus. With its length of 1.8 billion light years, this spot baffles scientists, because they could not even imagine that such an object could really exist.
Despite the presence of the word “void” in the title (from the English “void” means “emptiness”), the space here is not completely empty. This region of space contains about 30 percent fewer clusters of galaxies than their surroundings. According to scientists, voids make up to 50 percent of the volume of the universe, and this percentage, in their opinion, will continue to grow due to super-strong gravity, which attracts all the matter around them. Two things make this void interesting: its unimaginable size and its relation to the mysterious cold relic spot WMAP.
superblob
In 2006, the title of the largest object in the universe was given to the discovered mysterious cosmic “bubble” (or blob, as scientists usually call them). True, he retained this title for a short time. This 200-million-light-year-long bubble is a gigantic collection of gas, dust, and galaxies.
Each of the three "tentacles" of this bubble contains galaxies that are four times denser among themselves than is usual in the Universe. The cluster of galaxies and gas balls inside this bubble are called Liman-Alpha bubbles. These objects are believed to have formed about 2 billion years after the Big Bang and are true relics. ancient universe.
Shapley Supercluster
For many years, scientists have believed that our galaxy Milky Way at a speed of 2.2 million kilometers per hour is attracted through the universe to the constellation Centaurus. Astronomers theorize that the reason for this is the Great Attractor, an object with a gravitational force that is enough to attract entire galaxies to itself. True, scientists could not figure out what kind of object this was for a long time, since this object is located beyond the so-called "zone of avoidance" (ZOA), a region of the sky near the plane of the Milky Way, where the absorption of light by interstellar dust is so great that it is impossible to see what is behind it.
As soon as scientists decided to look deeper into space, they soon discovered that the "great cosmic magnet" is a much larger object than previously thought. This object is the Shapley supercluster.
The Shapley Supercluster is a supermassive cluster of galaxies. It is so huge and has such a powerful attraction that our own galaxy. The supercluster consists of more than 8,000 galaxies with a mass of more than 10 million Suns. Every galaxy in our region of space is currently being pulled by this supercluster.
Supercluster Laniakea
Galaxies are usually grouped together. These groups are called clusters. The regions of space where these clusters are more closely spaced are called superclusters. Previously, astronomers have mapped these objects by determining their physical location in the universe, but recently a new way of mapping local space has been invented, shedding light on data previously unknown to astronomy.
The new principle of mapping the local space and the galaxies located in it is based not so much on the calculation of the physical location of the object, but on the measurement of the gravitational effect exerted by it.
The first results of the study of our local galaxies using the new research method have already been obtained. Scientists, based on the boundaries of the gravitational flow, mark a new supercluster. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it will allow us to better understand where our place in the universe is. The Milky Way was previously thought to be inside the Virgo supercluster, but a new method of investigation shows that this region is just an arm of the even larger Laniakea supercluster, one of the largest objects in the universe. It stretches for 520 million light years, and somewhere inside it we are.
Great Wall of Sloan
The Sloan Great Wall was first discovered in 2003 as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a scientific mapping of hundreds of millions of galaxies to determine the presence of the largest objects in the universe. Sloan's Great Wall is a gigantic galactic filament of multiple superclusters spread out across the universe like the tentacles of a giant octopus. At 1.4 billion light-years long, the "wall" was once thought to be the largest object in the universe.
The Great Wall of Sloan itself is not as well understood as the superclusters that lie within it. Some of these superclusters are interesting in their own right and deserve special mention. One, for example, has a core of galaxies that together look like giant tendrils from the side. Another supercluster has very high level interactions of galaxies, many of which are now undergoing a period of merger.
Group of quasars Huge-LQG7
Quasars are high-energy astronomical objects located at the center of galaxies. It is believed that the center of quasars are supermassive black holes, which pull on the surrounding matter. This results in huge radiation, which is 1000 times more powerful than all the stars inside the galaxy. Currently, the third largest object in the universe is the Huge-LQG group of quasars, consisting of 73 quasars scattered over 4 billion light-years. Scientists believe that this massive group of quasars, as well as similar ones, are one of the main precursors and sources of the largest objects in the universe, such as, for example, Sloane's Great Wall.
Giant gamma ring
Stretching for 5 billion light-years, the Giant galactic gamma-ray ring (Giant GRB Ring) is the second largest object in the universe. In addition to its incredible size, this object attracts attention due to its unusual shape. Astronomers studying bursts of gamma rays (huge bursts of energy that are formed as a result of the death of massive stars) discovered a series of nine bursts, the sources of which were at the same distance from the Earth. These bursts formed a ring in the sky, 70 times the diameter of the full moon.
Great Wall of Hercules - North Corona
The largest object in the universe was also discovered by astronomers as part of their observation of gamma rays. This object, dubbed the Great Wall of Hercules - the Northern Corona, spans 10 billion light-years, making it twice the size of the Giant Galactic Gamma Ring. Since the brightest bursts of gamma rays are produced by larger stars, usually located in areas of space where there is more matter, astronomers each time metaphorically see each such burst as a needle prick into something larger. When scientists discovered that there were too many gamma ray bursts in the region of space towards the constellations Hercules and the Northern Corona, they determined that there was an astronomical object here, most likely a dense concentration of galaxy clusters and other matter.
space web
Scientists believe that the expansion of the universe is not random. There are theories according to which all the galaxies of the cosmos are organized into one incredible structure, resembling filamentous connections that unite dense regions. These filaments are scattered between less dense voids. Scientists call this structure the Cosmic Web.
According to scientists, the web formed at a very early stage in the history of the universe. The early stage of the formation of the web was unstable and heterogeneous, which subsequently helped the formation of everything that is now in the universe. It is believed that the "threads" of this web played a big role in the evolution of the Universe, thanks to which this evolution accelerated. The galaxies inside these filaments have a significantly higher star formation rate. In addition, these threads are a kind of bridge for gravitational interaction between galaxies. After forming in these filaments, galaxies move towards galaxy clusters, where they eventually die.
Only recently have scientists begun to understand what this Cosmic Web really is. Moreover, they even detected its presence in the radiation of the distant quasar they were studying. Quasars are known to be the brightest objects in the universe. The light of one of them went straight to one of the filaments, which heated up the gases in it and made them glow. Based on these observations, scientists have drawn threads between other galaxies, thus compiling a picture of the "skeleton of the cosmos."
Thanks to the rapid development of technology, astronomers are making more and more interesting and incredible discoveries in the universe. For example, the title of "the largest object in the universe" passes from one find to another almost every year. Some open objects are so huge that they baffle even the best scientists of our planet with their existence. Let's talk about the ten largest of them.
Relatively recently, scientists discovered the largest cold spot in the universe. It is located in the southern part of the constellation Eridanus. With its length of 1.8 billion light years, this spot has baffled scientists. They had no idea that objects of this size could exist.
Despite the presence of the word “void” in the title (from the English “void” means “emptiness”), the space here is not completely empty. This region of space contains about 30 percent fewer galaxy clusters than its surroundings. According to scientists, voids make up to 50 percent of the volume of the universe, and this percentage, in their opinion, will continue to grow due to super-strong gravity, which attracts all the matter around them.
superblob
In 2006, the title of the largest object in the universe was given to the discovered mysterious cosmic “bubble” (or blob, as scientists usually call them). True, he retained this title for a short time. This 200-million-light-year-long bubble is a gigantic collection of gas, dust, and galaxies. With some caveats, this object looks like a giant green jellyfish. The object was discovered by Japanese astronomers when they were studying one of the regions of space known for the presence of a huge volume of cosmic gas.
Each of the three "tentacles" of this bubble contains galaxies that are four times denser than usual in the universe. The clusters of galaxies and balls of gas inside this bubble are called the Lyman-Alpha bubbles. It is believed that these objects began to appear about 2 billion years after the Big Bang and are real relics of the ancient Universe. Scientists suggest that the bubble in question was formed when massive stars that existed in the early days of space suddenly went supernova and threw huge volumes of gas into space. The object is so massive that scientists believe that it is, by and large, one of the first cosmic objects to form in the universe. According to theories, over time, more and more new galaxies will form from the accumulated gas here.
Shapley Supercluster
For many years, scientists believe that our galaxy, at a speed of 2.2 million kilometers per hour, is attracted through the Universe somewhere in the direction of the constellation Centaurus. Astronomers suggest that the reason for this is the Great Attractor (Great Attractor), an object with such a force of gravity, which is already enough to attract entire galaxies to itself. True, scientists could not find out what kind of object it was for a long time. Presumably this object is located behind the so-called "zone of avoidance" (ZOA), an area in the sky, covered by the Milky Way galaxy.
However, over time, X-ray astronomy came to the rescue. Its development made it possible to look beyond the ZOA region and find out what exactly is the cause of such a strong gravitational attraction. True, what the scientists saw put them even more in a dead end. It turned out that beyond the ZOA region there is an ordinary cluster of galaxies. The size of this cluster did not correlate with the force exerted on our galaxy by gravitational attraction. But as soon as scientists decided to look deeper into space, they soon discovered that our galaxy is being pulled towards an even larger object. It turned out to be the Shapley Supercluster, the most massive supercluster of galaxies in the observable Universe.
The supercluster consists of over 8,000 galaxies. Its mass is about 10,000 more than the mass of the Milky Way.
Great Wall CfA2
Like most of the objects on this list, the Great Wall (also known as the CfA2 Great Wall) once also boasted the title of the largest known space object in the universe. It was discovered by American astrophysicist Margaret Joan Geller and John Peter Hunra while studying the redshift effect for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. According to scientists, it is 500 million light-years long, 300 million light-years wide, and 15 million light-years thick.
The exact dimensions of the Great Wall are still a mystery to scientists. It could be much larger than thought, spanning 750 million light-years. The problem in determining the exact dimensions lies in the location of this gigantic structure. As with the Shapley Supercluster, the Great Wall is partially covered by the "zone of avoidance".
In general, this “zone of avoidance” does not allow us to see about 20 percent of the observable (reachable for current telescopes) Universe. It lies inside the Milky Way and is dense clumps of gas and dust (as well as a high concentration of stars) that greatly distort observations. In order to look through the "zone of avoidance", astronomers have to use, for example, infrared telescopes, which can penetrate another 10 percent of the "zone of avoidance". Through which infrared waves cannot penetrate, radio waves, as well as near-infrared waves and X-rays, break through. Nevertheless, the actual inability to view such a large region of space somewhat upsets scientists. The "Zone of Avoidance" may contain information that can fill gaps in our knowledge of space.
Supercluster Laniakea
Galaxies are usually grouped together. These groups are called clusters. The regions of space where these clusters are more closely spaced are called superclusters. Previously, astronomers mapped these objects by determining their physical location in the universe, but recently a new way of mapping local space has been invented. This made it possible to shed light on information that was previously inaccessible.
The new principle of mapping the local space and the galaxies located in it is based not on the calculation of the location of objects, but on observations of the indicators of the gravitational influence exerted by objects. Thanks to the new method, the location of galaxies is determined and, on the basis of this, a map of the distribution of gravity in the Universe is compiled. Compared to the old ones, the new method is more advanced because it allows astronomers not only to mark new objects in the universe we see, but also to find new objects in places where it was not possible to look before.
The first results of the study of a local cluster of galaxies using a new method made it possible to detect a new supercluster. The importance of this study lies in the fact that it will allow us to better understand where our place in the universe is. Previously, the Milky Way was thought to be inside the Virgo Supercluster, but a new method of research shows that this region is only part of the even larger Laniakea Supercluster, one of the largest objects in the universe. It stretches for 520 million light years, and somewhere inside it we are.
Great Wall of Sloan
Sloan's Great Wall was first discovered in 2003 as part of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, a scientific mapping of hundreds of millions of galaxies to identify the largest objects in the universe. The Great Wall of Sloan is a giant galactic filament made up of several superclusters. They, like the tentacles of a giant octopus, are distributed in all directions of the universe. At 1.4 billion light-years long, the "wall" was once thought to be the largest object in the universe.
The Great Wall of Sloan itself is not as well understood as the superclusters that lie within it. Some of these superclusters are interesting in their own right and deserve special mention. One, for example, has a core of galaxies that together look like giant tendrils from the side. Inside another supercluster, there is a high gravitational interaction between galaxies - many of them are now undergoing a period of merger.
The presence of the "wall" and any other larger objects creates new questions about the mysteries of the universe. Their existence goes against the cosmological principle, which theoretically limits how big objects in the universe can be. According to this principle, the laws of the universe do not allow the existence of objects larger than 1.2 billion light years. However, objects like the Great Wall of Sloan completely contradict this opinion.
Group of quasars Huge-LQG7
Quasars are high-energy astronomical objects located at the center of galaxies. It is believed that the center of quasars are supermassive black holes, which attract the surrounding matter. This results in a huge burst of radiation, the power of which is 1000 times greater than the energy generated by all the stars within the galaxy. Currently, the Huge-LQG group of quasars, consisting of 73 quasars scattered over 4 billion light-years, is in third place among the largest structural objects in the Universe. Scientists believe that such a massive group of quasars, as well as similar ones, are one of the reasons for the appearance of the largest structural ones in the Universe, such as, for example, Sloan's Great Wall.
The Huge-LQG group of quasars was discovered after analyzing the same data that discovered the Great Wall of Sloan. Scientists determined its presence after mapping one of the regions of space using a special algorithm that measures the density of quasars in a certain area.
It should be noted that the very existence of Huge-LQG is still a matter of controversy. Some scientists believe that this region of space really represents a single group of quasars, while others believe that quasars within this region of space are located randomly and are not part of one group.
Giant gamma ring
Stretching for 5 billion light-years, the Giant galactic gamma-ray ring (Giant GRB Ring) is the second largest object in the universe. In addition to its incredible size, this object attracts attention due to its unusual shape. Astronomers studying bursts of gamma rays (huge bursts of energy that are formed as a result of the death of massive stars), found a series of nine bursts, the sources of which were at the same distance from the Earth. These bursts formed a ring in the sky, 70 times the diameter of the full moon. Considering that gamma-ray bursts themselves are quite rare, the chance that they will form a similar shape in the sky is 1 in 20,000. This led scientists to assume that they are witnessing one of the largest structural objects in the universe. .
By itself, "ring" is just a term to describe the visual representation of this phenomenon as seen from Earth. According to one of the assumptions, the giant gamma ring may be a projection of a certain sphere, around which all gamma radiation emissions occurred in a relatively short period of time, about 250 million years. True, here the question arises as to what kind of source could create such a sphere. One explanation is related to the assumption that galaxies can gather in groups around a huge concentration of dark matter. However, this is just a theory. Scientists still don't know how these structures form.
Great Wall of Hercules - North Corona
The largest structural object in the universe was also discovered by astronomers as part of their observation of gamma rays. This object, dubbed the Great Wall of Hercules - the Northern Corona, spans 10 billion light-years, making it twice the size of the Giant Galactic Gamma Ring. Since the brightest bursts of gamma rays are produced by larger stars, usually located in areas of space where there is more matter, astronomers each time metaphorically consider each such burst as a needle prick into something larger. When scientists discovered that there were too many gamma ray bursts in the region of space towards the constellations Hercules and the Northern Corona, they determined that there was an astronomical object here, most likely a dense concentration of galaxy clusters and other matter.
An interesting fact: the name "The Great Wall of Hercules - Northern Crown" was coined by a Filipino teenager who wrote it down on Wikipedia (anyone who does not know can edit this electronic encyclopedia). Shortly after the news that astronomers had discovered a huge structure in the cosmic sky, a corresponding article appeared on the pages of Wikipedia. Despite the fact that the invented name does not quite accurately describe this object (the wall covers several constellations at once, and not just two), the world Internet quickly got used to it. Perhaps this is the first time that Wikipedia has given a name to a discovered and interesting scientific point vision of the object.
Since the very existence of this “wall” also contradicts the cosmological principle, scientists have to reconsider some of their theories about how the universe actually formed.
space web
Scientists believe that the expansion of the universe is not random. There are theories according to which all the galaxies of space are organized into one structure of incredible size, reminiscent of filamentous connections that unite dense regions. These filaments are scattered between less dense voids. Scientists call this structure the Cosmic Web.
According to scientists, the web formed at a very early stage in the history of the universe. At first, the formation of the web was unstable and heterogeneous, which subsequently helped the formation of everything that is now in the Universe. It is believed that the "threads" of this web played a big role in the evolution of the universe - they accelerated it. It is noted that the galaxies that are inside these filaments have a significantly higher rate of star formation. In addition, these threads are a kind of bridge for gravitational interaction between galaxies. Once formed within these filaments, galaxies travel to galaxy clusters where they eventually die.
Only recently have scientists begun to understand what this Cosmic Web really is. Studying one of the distant quasars, the researchers noted that their radiation affects one of the threads of the Cosmic Web. The light of the quasar went straight to one of the filaments, which heated up the gases in it and made them glow. Based on these observations, scientists were able to imagine the distribution of threads between other galaxies, thereby compiling a picture of the "skeleton of the cosmos."
The universe is huge. It is difficult for us to imagine its true dimensions. Scientists say that since the Big Bang it has grown so much that it has. We cannot see the entire Universe, but those places that are open to our gaze also contain many secrets, mysteries and other unusual things. In the past, we have already written about. Today we’ll talk about single ones: starting from the largest asteroid and ending with the largest galaxy in the visible space of space.
Looks creepy, right?
Reference: One light year is a unit of distance in astronomy, equal to the distance that light travels in vacuum in one Earth year.
The largest asteroid in the solar system
Such an asteroid can do a lot of things.
Previously, the largest asteroid in the solar system was Ceres. The diameter of the object is about 950 kilometers. The second largest was Pallas with a diameter of 512 kilometers. And Vesta occupied the third line of the largest known asteroids in the solar system, inferior in size to Pallas, but overtaking it in mass.
After scientists transferred it to the category of dwarf planets, Pallas began to occupy the top line of the largest (in size) asteroids in the solar system. However, astronomers specified the size of Vesta and it turned out that it is larger than Pallas. The diameter of Vesta is 530 kilometers. Thus, Vesta became not only the largest, but also the most massive asteroid in our solar system.
The largest satellite of the planet in the solar system
Comparative sizes of Ganymede with other satellites of the solar system and the Earth
Jupiter's gas giant moon Ganymede is the largest moon in the solar system. Its diameter is 5268 kilometers.
Ganymede is one of the four largest moons of Jupiter, which, along with Io, Europa and Callisto, were first discovered by the Italian mathematician, philosophers and astronomer Galileo Galilei. The name Ganymede was not used until the middle of the 20th century. Galileo called the satellites he discovered "the Medici planets", and Ganymede himself called Jupiter III or "the third satellite of Jupiter."
Scientists believe that under the surface of Ganymede, which contains much more water than on Earth.
The largest satellite of an exoplanet
The star WASP-12, located at a distance of 870 light-years from us, has an exoplanet. Recall that exoplanets are called planets that are outside the solar system.
In 2012, the planet WASP-12b was explored by Russian scientists. They assumed that she had a satellite. This possibility was based on the analysis of the brightness (brilliance) of the star. From the features of brightness changes, it is possible to calculate what fraction of the area of the star's disk is covered by the satellite. Scientists believe that the satellite has a radius of 0.57 of the radius of Jupiter (it is 6.4 times the size of the Earth). Such a large size and allowed to assume the existence of a satellite.
The largest planet in the solar system
Size comparison of Jupiter and Earth.
With a diameter of 142,984 kilometers, Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. Along with Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, Jupiter is classified as a gas giant.
The mass of Jupiter is 318 times the mass of the Earth. It is 2.5 times heavier than all the other planets in the solar system combined. The giant is located at a distance of about 770 million kilometers from the Sun and makes a complete revolution around the star in about 11.9 Earth years.
Perhaps the most famous feature of Jupiter is its (BKP) - a hurricane that has been lasting on the planet for more than 300 years. The diameter of the Spot is greater than the diameter of the Earth.
The largest rocky exoplanet
Artistic representation of the planet BD+20594 b
The largest rocky exoplanet was discovered by the Kepler space telescope in 2016 in the constellation Aries, which is 500 light-years away. The object, designated BD+20594b, is about 16 times heavier than Earth and has a radius 2.2 times that of Earth.
Previously, Kepler-10 c. was considered the largest rocky exoplanet. it was said that this planet has a radius that is 2.35 times that of the earth, and its mass is about 17 more than that of the Earth. However, more accurate calculations carried out in 2017 made it possible to establish that the planet Kepler-10c is only 7.4 times heavier than the Earth, and its composition is rather closer to the gas giants.
Largest gas giant outside the solar system
The largest gas giant.
Determining the largest exoplanet of the gas giant class is not an easy task. Scientists need to take into account many things. For example, in space there are objects so huge that they can hardly be called planets. They are more like a star. At the same time, their mass is less than the minimum required to support the nuclear reactions of hydrogen combustion and transformation into a star. Such objects are called substellar.
The largest gas giant exoplanet discovered so far is HD 100546 b, discovered in 2013. It is located 337 light years from Earth. Scientists believe that HD 100546 b is 6.9 times larger and 20 times heavier than Jupiter.
The biggest star in the universe
Deep bottomless space.
Currently, the largest star not only in our Milky Way galaxy, but also in the known Universe is the red hypergiant UY Scuti. It is located approximately 9500 light years from us. According to scientists, the radius of the UY Shield is 1708 solar radii, but it is constantly changing and can reach 2100 solar radii. The diameter of the star is 2.4 billion kilometers.
The size of our Sun and star UY Scutum (with a magnification of 7 times)
For understanding: if the Sun is drawn with a small circle with a diameter of 1 mm, then for the UY Shield you will need a circle with a diameter of 1.7-2.1 meters! If you place UY Scutum in the center of the solar system, then its photosphere (the radiating layer of the stellar atmosphere) will cover the orbit of Jupiter.
Astronomers now estimate that UY Scuti is 340,000 times brighter than our Sun.