List of largest cosmic structures
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
An image of the massive galaxy cluster MACS J0454.1-0300.
This is a list of the largest cosmic structures so far discovered. The unit of measurement used is the light year (distanced traveled by light in one Julian year; approximately 9.46 trillion kilometres).
This list includes superclusters, galaxy filaments and large quasar groups (LQG's). The list characterizes each structure based on its longest dimension.
Note that this list refers only to coupling of matter with defined limits, and not the coupling of matter in general (as per example the cosmic microwave background, which fills the entire universe). All structures in this list are defined as to whether their presiding limits have been identified.
There are some speculations about this list:
- The Zone of Avoidance, or the part of the sky in which the Milky Way is occupied, blocks out light to several structures, making its limits imprecisely identified.
- Some structures are far too distant to be seen even with the most powerful telescopes. Some factors are included to explain the structure (like gravitational lensing and redshift data).
- Some structures have no defined limits, or endpoints. All structures are believed to be part of the cosmic web, which is a conclusive idea. Most structures are overlapped by nearby galaxies, creating a problem of how to carefully define the structure's limit.
List of largest structures
| Structure name (year discovered) |
Maximum dimension (in light years) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hercules-Corona Borealis Great Wall (2014)[1] | 10,000,000,000[2][3][4] | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping, and is the first structure to exceed 10 billion light years. |
| Giant GRB Ring (2015)[5] | 5,600,000,000[6] | Discovered through gamma-ray burst mapping. Largest known regular formation in the observable Universe.[6] |
| Huge-LQG (2012-2013) | 4,000,000,000[7][8][9] | Decoupling of 73 quasars. Largest known large quasar group and the first structure found to exceed 3 billion light years. |
| U1.11 LQG (2011) | 2,500,000,000 | Involves 38 quasars. Adjacent to the Clowes-Campusano LQG. |
| Clowes-Campusano LQG (1991) | 2,000,000,000 | Grouping of 34 quasars. Discovered by Roger Clowes and Luis Campusano. |
| Sloan Great Wall (2003) | 1,370,000,000 | Discovered through the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. |
| (Theoretical limit) | 1,200,000,000 | Structures larger than this size are incompatible with the cosmological principle according to all estimates |
| Pisces-Cetus Supercluster Complex (1987) | 1,000,000,000 | Contains the Milky Way, and is the first galaxy filament to be discovered. (The first LQG was found earlier in 1982.) A new report in 2014 confirms the Milky Way as a member of Laniakea Supercluster. |
| CfA2 Great Wall (1989) | 750,000,000 | Also known as the Coma Wall |
| Horologium Supercluster (2005) | 550,000,000 | Also known as Horologium-Reticulum Supercluster. |
| Laniakea Supercluster (2014) | 520,000,000 | Galaxy supercluster in which the Earth is located |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 11 | 500,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 12 | 480,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Newman LQG (U1.54) | 450,000,000 | |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 5 | 430,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Tesch–Engels LQG | 420,000,000 | |
| Shapley Supercluster | 400,000,000 | First identified by Harlow Shapley as a cloud of galaxies in 1930, it was not identified as a structure until 1989. |
| Komberg–Kravstov–Lukash LQG 3 | 390,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| U1.90 | 380,000,000 | |
| Lynx–Ursa Major Filament (LUM Filament) | 370,000,000 | |
| Sculptor Wall | 370,000,000 | Also known as Southern Great Wall |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 2 | 350,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| z=2.38 filament around protocluster ClG J2143-4423 | 330,000,000 | |
| Webster LQG | 320,000,000 | First LQG (Large Quasar Group) discovered[11][12] |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 8 | 310,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 1 | 280,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 6 | 260,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 7 | 250,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Komberg–Kravtsov–Lukash LQG 9 | 200,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
| Newfound Blob | 200,000,000 | A giant collection of Lyman-alpha blobs |
| Komberg-Kravtsov-Lukash LQG 10 | 180,000,000 | Discovered by Boris V. Komberg, Andrey V. Kravstov and Vladimir N. Lukash[10][11] |
List of largest voids
Voids are immense spaces between galaxy filaments and other large-scale structures. Technically they are not structures. They are vast spaces which contain very few, or no galaxies. They are theorized to be caused by quantum fluctuations during the early formation of the universe.
A list of the largest voids so far discovered is below. Each is ranked according to its longest dimension.
| Void name/designation | Maximum dimension (in light years) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Void | 1,300,000,000 | Also called as Canes Venatici Supervoid |
| Tully-11 void | 880,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| Tully-10 void | 792,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| Tully-9 void | 746,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| B&B Abell-20 void | 684,000,000 | |
| B&B Abell-9 void | 652,000,000 | |
| Tully-7 void | 567,240,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| Tully-4 void | 564,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| Tully-6 void | 557,460,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| Tully-8 void | 554,200,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| B&B Abell-21 void | 521,600,000 | |
| B&B Abell-28 void | 521,600,000 | |
| Eridanus Supervoid | 489,000,000 (most likely value) |
A recent analysis of the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) in 2007 has found an irregularity of the temperature fluctuation of the cosmic microwave background within the vicinity of the constellation Eridanus with analysis found to be 70 microkelvins cooler than the average CMB temperature. One speculation is that a void could cause the cold spot, with the possible size on the left. However, it may be as large as 1 billion light years, close to the size of the Giant Void. |
| B&B Abell-4 void | 489,000,000 | |
| B&B Abell-15 void | 489,000,000 | |
| Tully-3 void | 489,000,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| 1994EEDTAWSS-10 void | 469,440,000 | |
| Tully-1 void | 456,400,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| B&B Abell-8 void | 456,000,000 | |
| B&B Abell-22 void | 456,000,000 | |
| Tully-2 void | 443,360,000 | Catalogued by R. Brent Tully |
| B&B Abell-24 void | 423,800,000 | |
| B&B Abell-27 void | 423,800,000 | |
| B&B Abell-7 void | 391,200,000 | |
| B&B Abell-12 void | 391,200,000 | |
| B&B Abell-29 void | 391,200,000 | |
| 1994EEDTAWSS-21 void | 378,160,000 | |
| Southern Local Supervoid | 365,120,000 | |
| B&B Abell-10 void | 358,600,000 | |
| B&B Abell-11 void | 358,600,000 | |
| B&B Abell-13 void | 358,600,000 | |
| B&B Abell-17 void | 358,600,000 | |
| B&B Abell-19 void | 358,600,000 | |
| B&B Abell-23 void | 358,600,000 | |
| 1994EEDTAWSS-19 void | 342,100,000 | |
| 1994EEDTAWSS-12 void | 328,000,000 |
See also
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References
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- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 R.G.Clowes; "Large Quasar Groups - A Short Review"; 'The New Era of Wide Field Astronomy', ASP Conference Series, Vol. 232.; 2001; Astronomical Society of the Pacific; ISBN 1-58381-065-X ; Bibcode: 2001ASPC..232..108C
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
