Enormous, approximately-spherical region of space containing very few galaxies
TheBoötes Void (/boʊˈoʊtiːz/boh-OH-teez) (colloquially referred to as theGreat Nothing)[1] is a roughlyspherical region ofspace in the vicinity of the constellationBoötes. It contains just 60galaxies, which is significantly lower than the approximately 2,000 galaxies expected for an area of comparable size. With a radius of 62 megaparsecs (nearly 330 millionlight-years), it is one of thelargest knownvoids in the visible universe, and is often referred to as a "supervoid".[2]
The existence of the Boötes Void does not appear to conflict with theLambda-cold dark matter (ΛCDM) model of cosmological evolution.[4] It is hypothesized that the Boötes Void formed through the coalescence of smaller voids.[5] This process may explain the presence of a limited number of galaxies within a roughly cylindrical region extending through the center of the void.[6]
